UK Pornography Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has surged.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate reduction in traffic to leading pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this decline in viewing continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by routing internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the verification began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who posted it.
This research was carried out before new rules came into force that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Controls
Campaigners for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.
Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
