UK Adult Content Traffic Declines After Age Checks, But VPN Usage Surges, Reports Regulator
Access to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has increased.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers After Law Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an swift decline in traffic to popular pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this decline in site visits persisted past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks
In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing connections through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the checks began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken included flagging the content to the platform to muting the person who posted it.
This survey was conducted prior to new rules came into force that require social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the government announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review 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 the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Online Regulations
Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.
