🔗 Share this article British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has fallen significantly since the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has risen. Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures After Rule Enforcement The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in visits to leading online adult platforms, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024. Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits continued beyond August. Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks In response to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic through another nation—more than doubled following 25 July. User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services. Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the platform to muting the person who shared it. This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent 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 looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material. Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws In a related development, the government stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world. “The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official. Advocates Push For Tighter Online Regulations Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children. Suggested changes to legislation seek to: Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms. Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child. Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms. Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate private images without permission. Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content. The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has fallen significantly since the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has risen. Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures After Rule Enforcement The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in visits to leading online adult platforms, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024. Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits continued beyond August. Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks In response to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic through another nation—more than doubled following 25 July. User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services. Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the platform to muting the person who shared it. This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent 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 looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material. Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws In a related development, the government stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world. “The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official. Advocates Push For Tighter Online Regulations Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children. Suggested changes to legislation seek to: Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms. Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child. Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms. Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate private images without permission. Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content. The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.