British Pornography Traffic Falls After Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has increased.

Sharp Fall in User Figures Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in visits to major online adult platforms, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis suggests this slump in site visits persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Checks

In response to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the user who shared it.

This research was conducted before new regulations came into force that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous 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, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Launch Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.