British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator
Access to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has surged.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures After Rule Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift decline in visits to popular online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data indicates this slump in site visits persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic blocks by routing connections via another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the material to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This research was conducted before new rules took effect that require platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Laws
Separately, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
