UK Pornography Traffic Declines After Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, States Regulator
Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications regulator. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to dodge these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures After Law Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate decline in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the most visited site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Later data indicates this downward trend in site visits continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by routing connections via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Actions included reporting the content to the site to muting the user who posted it.
This survey was carried out before new regulations took effect that require social media companies to stop children from seeing 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, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the ministers announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern online world.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
