British Pornography Traffic Falls After Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has risen.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers After Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in traffic to leading pornography sites, including the most visited site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later data indicates this decline in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material
In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This research was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that require platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.
Proposed amendments to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by site algorithms.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the digital age.
