British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has surged.
Immediate Drop in User Numbers After Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to popular pornography sites, including the top site in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis shows this decline in site visits continued past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by routing connections via another country—surged after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Actions included flagging the material to the site to muting the person who posted it.
This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Controls
Campaigners for better regulation of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.