UK Adult Content Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Access to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to popular pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this decline in site visits persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based blocks by routing internet traffic via another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people before the verification began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who posted it.
This survey was carried out before new rules took effect that compel platforms to stop children from accessing harmful 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, indicating that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults dressed as children.
Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend 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 indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the digital age.
