British Pornography Traffic Declines After Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt fall in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the top site in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data suggests this downward trend in site visits continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by routing connections via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the checks began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new rules came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Legislation

In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Stricter Online Controls

Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.