UK Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications authority. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has increased.
Sharp Drop in User Figures Following Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate reduction in visits to major pornography sites, including the top site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Later analysis suggests this downward trend in site visits persisted beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by masking connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material
In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This survey was carried out before new rules came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Regulations
Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults dressed as children.
Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
