British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures After Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt decline in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July deadline. Later data suggests this decline in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks
In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking connections via another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the material to the site to blocking the user who shared it.
This research was conducted before new rules came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Laws
Separately, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal 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 suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
