British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Identity Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Watchdog
Traffic to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has risen.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers Following Law Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift decline in visits to popular pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking connections through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the platform to muting the person who posted it.
This survey was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Review of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Online Controls
Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
