UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Regulator
Access to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has risen.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt fall in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis suggests this downward trend in site visits persisted past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by masking internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically following 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 verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Teenagers Taking Action 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 seeing distressing content online. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.
This research was carried out before new rules came into force that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Advocates Push For Tighter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often 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 familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
