UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Age Checks, But VPN Use Surges, States Regulator

Traffic to pornography sites in the UK has fallen significantly after the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has increased.

Immediate Fall in User Figures After Law Implementation

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt decline in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis shows this slump in site visits persisted beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing connections via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers standing at approximately 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 young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to blocking the user who posted it.

This research was conducted prior to new rules took effect that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Government Announce Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Controls

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.