UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.
Sharp Drop in User Figures After Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt decline in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data shows this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by routing connections through another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found 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 person who shared it.
This research was carried out before new rules took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.
Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.
