UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Watchdog
Traffic to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has increased.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures Following Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an swift decline in visits to major pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July implementation date. Later data shows this downward trend in viewing persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.
This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation
Separately, the government announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for better control of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.
Suggested changes to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an exploitative portrayal 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 indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
