British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these barriers has risen.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers Following Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, including the top site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by routing connections through another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the platform to muting the person who posted it.
This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for better control of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.
