UK Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has surged.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an immediate reduction in traffic to leading online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Subsequent data suggests this slump in site visits persisted past August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by masking internet traffic via another country—more than doubled after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful 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 online. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.
This survey was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.
Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
