British Pornography Traffic Declines After Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures After Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis suggests this downward trend in site visits continued past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN softwareโwhich can get around geographic blocks by masking internet traffic through another countryโmore than doubled following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains โmuch lowerโ than user numbers for pornography services.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the person who posted it.
This research was conducted before new rules took effect that require platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.
Government Announce Examination of Pornography Laws
Separately, the government announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
โThe examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,โ said a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called โbarely legalโ material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like childrenโs bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Add additional restrictions on โnudificationโ software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
