British Pornography Traffic Falls Following Identity Checks, Yet VPN Use Surges, States Regulator
Traffic to pornography sites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has increased.
Sharp Drop in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate decline in visits to major pornography sites, including the top provider in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this slump in viewing continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the site to muting the user who posted it.
This survey was carried out prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for better control of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.
Suggested changes to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
