UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator
Traffic to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an swift reduction in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis shows this slump in site visits persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking connections via another country—surged after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Actions included flagging the material to the site to muting the user who shared it.
This research was carried out prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking 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 plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
