British Adult Content Site Visits Falls Following Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Regulator
Access to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Fall in User Figures Following Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an swift fall in visits to leading pornography sites, including the leading provider in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July deadline. Later data suggests this decline in site visits continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—surged following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the material to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.
This survey was carried out before new rules came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for better control of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in environments 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.
- Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
