UK Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, States Watchdog
Access to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these barriers has surged.
Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an prompt decline in visits to major pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data shows this decline in site visits persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by routing internet traffic through another country—surged following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people before the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content online. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the platform to muting the person who shared it.
This research was carried out before new rules came into force that compel platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Call For Tighter Online Regulations
Advocates for better control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
