UK Adult Content Site Visits Falls Following Age Verifications, But VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has risen.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures After Law Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to leading pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later data suggests this downward trend in site visits persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Checks
In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by masking connections via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Steps taken included flagging the material to the site to blocking the user who posted it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations
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 casting youthful performers dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
