UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Regulator
Traffic to pornography sites in the UK has decreased markedly since the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these barriers has risen.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to major pornography sites, such as the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data shows this decline in site visits continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by routing internet traffic through another nation—surged after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the user who posted it.
This survey was carried out before new rules came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Ministers Announce Review of Pornography Legislation
Separately, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Regulations
Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.
Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.
