Access to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.
Sharp Drop in User Figures After Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate fall in traffic to major online adult platforms, such as the top site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this decline in site visits continued beyond August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by masking connections via another nation—surged following 25 July.
User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to muting the user who shared it.
This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.
Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
