UK Pornography Traffic Declines After Age Checks, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Watchdog
Access to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has surged.
Immediate Fall in User Figures After Law Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate fall in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the late July implementation date. Later data shows this downward trend in viewing continued past August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.
This survey was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that require platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Government Launch Examination of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the government stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Online Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.
Suggested changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by site algorithms.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.
