British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the UK has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has surged.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures Following Law Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an swift reduction in visits to major pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Later analysis suggests this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by routing connections via another country—surged after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the material to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new rules came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Controls
Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
