British Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Traffic to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to dodge these barriers has increased.

Immediate Drop in User Figures After Rule Implementation

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an swift fall in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits continued beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by masking connections via another country—surged after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the platform to muting the user who shared it.

This research was carried out before new rules took effect that require social media companies to stop children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the ministers 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, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Tighter Digital 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 appears to promote abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.

Proposed changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body 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 decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.