UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Regulator
Traffic to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.
Immediate Drop in User Figures After Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate reduction in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this decline in site visits persisted past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based blocks by routing internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to muting the user who shared it.
This research was carried out before new rules came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Advocates Call 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 incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
