British Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Verifications, But VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator
Access to adult content websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these barriers has risen.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an prompt reduction in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the top site in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this slump in viewing continued past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking connections via another country—more than doubled after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people before the checks began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.
This survey was carried out before new regulations came into force that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Government Announce Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for better control of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.
Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on 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 are extended to the digital age.