UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Regulator
Visitor numbers to adult content platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has surged.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures Following Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July deadline. Later data shows this decline in site visits persisted past August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by masking connections through another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.
This survey was conducted before new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation
Separately, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
