British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these restrictions has increased.
Immediate Fall in User Numbers After Rule Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in traffic to popular pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data suggests this downward trend in site visits continued past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Checks
In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by masking 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, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material
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 online. Actions included flagging the material to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.
This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Government Announce Review of Pornography Laws
Separately, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in environments 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.
- Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.