British Pornography Traffic Declines After Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Surges, States Regulator
Traffic to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has surged.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures After Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate fall in visits to leading pornography sites, including the top provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Later data suggests this downward trend in viewing continued past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by routing connections via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with current figures at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Actions included reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who shared it.
This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.
Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the ministers stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Controls
Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.
Proposed changes to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
