British Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Checks, Yet VPN Use Surges, Reports Watchdog
Access to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications authority. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has surged.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an swift reduction in visits to popular pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Later data shows this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions
In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by routing connections via another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.
This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation
Separately, the government 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 current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the digital age.
