British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Regulator
Traffic to pornography platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications authority. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to bypass these blocks has increased.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate decline in traffic to popular pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this downward trend in site visits continued past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by routing connections through another country—surged after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.
This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.
Government Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Controls
Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.
