British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has surged.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures After Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an swift reduction in visits to popular online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this slump in site visits persisted beyond August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks
In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content online. Actions included reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who posted it.
This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Government Announce Review of Pornography Legislation
Separately, the ministers stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
