British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Surges, States Watchdog
Access to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these restrictions has risen.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate decline in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this slump in site visits continued past August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass geographic restrictions by masking connections via another country—surged after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content online. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the government stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Tighter Online Controls
Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography 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.
Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.
