UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Use Surges, Reports Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications authority. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has risen.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate decline in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this decline in site visits continued past August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people before the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.
This research was carried out prior to new rules took effect that require platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Launch Review of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations
Advocates for tighter control of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.
Proposed changes to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the digital age.
