UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Access to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has increased.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an prompt decline in visits to major online adult platforms, including the top site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data indicates this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by routing internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to blocking the user who shared it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Regulations

Campaigners for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking adults dressed as children.

Proposed changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site systems.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.