UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Checks, Yet VPN Use Surges, Reports Regulator
Access to pornography platforms 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 authority. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has surged.
Sharp Fall in User Figures After Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in visits to popular pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later data suggests this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing connections through another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.
This survey was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Pornography Laws
Separately, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.
Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body 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 existed for decades offline finally apply to the digital age.
