UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Use Spikes, States Watchdog
Access to adult content websites in the UK has fallen significantly since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these barriers has surged.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt decline in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis shows this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic blocks by masking connections via another nation—surged after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material
In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the site to muting the user who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for better control of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking adults dressed as children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.