British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Watchdog
Traffic to adult content sites in the UK has fallen significantly since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has risen.
Sharp Drop in User Figures Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate fall in traffic to leading online adult platforms, such as the top provider in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data suggests this decline in viewing continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic blocks by masking internet traffic through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Tighter Online Regulations
Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
