🔗 Share this article British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator Traffic to adult content sites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to dodge these barriers has increased. Immediate Drop in User Figures After Law Enforcement The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to popular pornography sites, including the top site in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024. In total, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July implementation date. Later data suggests this slump in site visits persisted past August. Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July. Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users before the checks began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites. Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the user who shared it. This survey was conducted prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material. Government Announce Review of Pornography Laws In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world. “The review will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official. Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Regulations Advocates for better control of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using youthful performers portraying children. Proposed changes to legislation seek to: Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms. Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child. Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems. Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate private images without permission. Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content. The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
Traffic to adult content sites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to dodge these barriers has increased. Immediate Drop in User Figures After Law Enforcement The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to popular pornography sites, including the top site in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024. In total, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July implementation date. Later data suggests this slump in site visits persisted past August. Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July. Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users before the checks began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites. Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the user who shared it. This survey was conducted prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material. Government Announce Review of Pornography Laws In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world. “The review will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official. Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Regulations Advocates for better control of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using youthful performers portraying children. Proposed changes to legislation seek to: Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms. Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child. Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems. Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate private images without permission. Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content. The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.