British Pornography Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.

Sharp Drop in User Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate fall in visits to popular pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the late July implementation date. Later data shows this slump in viewing persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking connections through another nation—surged following 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who shared it.

This survey was conducted before new rules took effect that compel platforms to stop children from seeing harmful 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 serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the ministers announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Stricter Digital Controls

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using young-looking performers dressed as children.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.