UK Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Identity Checks, But VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog
Access to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to bypass these blocks has increased.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in visits to major pornography sites, including the most visited site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data shows this downward trend in site visits continued past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by masking connections via another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the site to muting the person who posted it.
This survey was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Controls
Advocates for tighter 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 child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Suggested changes to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site algorithms.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
