UK Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has risen.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an swift fall in traffic to major pornography sites, including the leading site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Later data suggests this slump in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking connections through another country—more than doubled after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification began. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the site to blocking the person who posted it.
This research was conducted before new rules came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the government announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for better control of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.