British Pornography Traffic Falls After Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Traffic to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these blocks has surged.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt reduction in traffic to major pornography sites, including the leading provider in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis suggests this slump in site visits persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic blocks by routing internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Laws
Separately, the ministers announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Controls
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.
Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
