UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Traffic to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these barriers has risen.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures After Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an swift fall in traffic to popular pornography sites, including the most visited site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis suggests this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks
In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic blocks by routing connections through another nation—surged after 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the platform to muting the person who shared it.
This research was carried out prior to new rules took effect that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous 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 timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Review of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the government stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for better control of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.
