UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Regulator
Traffic to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these barriers has surged.
Sharp Fall in User Figures Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt decline in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the leading site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July implementation date. Later data indicates this decline in viewing continued past August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by routing internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures at around 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted before new rules came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Government Launch Review of Pornography Legislation
Separately, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Controls
Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct 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 offline finally are extended to the online sphere.