British Pornography Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has fallen significantly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has increased.

Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to popular online adult platforms, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis suggests this decline in site visits persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Checks

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by masking connections via another country—surged following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the material to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out prior to new rules took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.