British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Regulator
Access to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.
Immediate Fall in User Figures Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate decline in visits to leading online adult platforms, such as the top provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July deadline. Later data shows this slump in site visits persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing connections via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the verification began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.
This survey was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that require social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Government Launch Review of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.
