British Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Traffic to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has surged.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers After Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an swift fall in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this downward trend in viewing continued past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks
In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another country—more than doubled after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material
In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who posted it.
This survey was carried out prior to new rules took effect that require platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the government stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
