UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Identity Verifications, But VPN Usage Surges, Reports Regulator
Traffic to pornography sites in the UK has fallen significantly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.
Immediate Fall in User Numbers After Law Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate fall in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent data indicates this downward trend in site visits continued past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking connections through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users before the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Young People 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 seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to muting the person who posted it.
This survey was conducted before new regulations took effect that require platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.