UK Pornography Site Visits Falls After Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, States Regulator
Traffic to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Fall in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this slump in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking connections via another country—surged after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material
In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Actions included flagging the material to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.
This survey was carried out before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Online Controls
Campaigners for better control 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 child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
