UK Adult Content Traffic Falls Following Age Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator
Access to pornography sites in the UK has decreased markedly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has increased.
Immediate Drop in User Numbers Following Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an immediate decline in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking internet traffic through another nation—surged after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures at around 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions included flagging the content to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This survey was carried out before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
