British Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Age Checks, But VPN Use Spikes, States Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an prompt reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data shows this decline in viewing persisted beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks
In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by masking connections via another country—surged following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content on the internet. Actions included flagging the content to the platform to muting the user who posted it.
This survey was conducted before new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Announce Review of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Advocates Call For Stricter Online Regulations
Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.
Proposed changes to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
