UK Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has risen.

Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in traffic to leading pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 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 “lower level” than prior to the late July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks

In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic blocks by routing internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Young People Responding to Damaging Material

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.

This survey was conducted prior to new rules came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.

Government Announce Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations

Advocates for better control of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.

Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.