British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Regulator
Traffic to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. At the same time, the usage of tools designed to bypass these barriers has surged.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures After Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt decline in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Later analysis indicates this slump in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by masking connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to muting the person who posted it.
This research was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Laws
Separately, the ministers stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Online Controls
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 encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
