UK Pornography Site Visits Falls After Age Verifications, But VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has risen.
Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Law Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an swift decline in traffic to major online adult platforms, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this downward trend in viewing continued past August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by masking connections through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that require platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Government Launch Review of Pornography Laws
Separately, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.
