British Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Traffic to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to bypass these barriers has risen.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate decline in visits to major pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July implementation date. Later data suggests this downward trend in site visits continued past August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking connections via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken included flagging the material to the site to muting the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted prior to new rules came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Controls
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.
Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.
