British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Access to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the introduction 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 increased.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in traffic to popular pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent data suggests this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic blocks by routing connections via another nation—surged following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material
In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content online. Actions included reporting the material to the site to muting the user who posted it.
This research was conducted prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
