UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator

Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has risen.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an prompt fall in visits to major online adult platforms, such as the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July implementation date. Later analysis shows this slump in site visits persisted beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by routing connections through another country—surged following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Actions included flagging the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.

This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.

Government Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for better control of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.

Proposed changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.