British Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Use Spikes, States Watchdog

Traffic to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures After Law Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to leading pornography sites, including the most visited site in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the late July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this slump in viewing continued beyond August.

Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking connections through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.

Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users before the checks began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the platform to muting the user who shared it.

This research was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Government Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates for better control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.

Proposed changes to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.