British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Identity Checks, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Regulator
Access to adult content platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has surged.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures After Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in visits to major pornography sites, including the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis shows this decline in site visits continued past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Checks
In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic via another country—more than doubled after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Damaging 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 online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to muting the person who posted it.
This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Regulations
Advocates for better control of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
