UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, But VPN Usage Surges, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the UK has fallen significantly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.
Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an swift decline in traffic to popular pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis shows this slump in site visits persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Actions included flagging the material to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
