UK Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.
Immediate Drop in User Figures Following Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift fall in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this decline in viewing persisted beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing connections through another country—surged after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the material to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new rules took effect that require platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Launch Review of Pornography Legislation
Separately, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
