UK Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Identity Checks, But VPN Use Spikes, States Regulator
Traffic to pornography sites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications authority. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift decline in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the late July deadline. Later data shows this slump in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking connections via another nation—surged after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the material to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.
This survey was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Advocates Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners for tighter 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 abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often 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.
- Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
