British Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the UK has decreased markedly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate decline in visits to popular pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis shows this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks
In response to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to muting the user who posted it.
This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.
Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
