🔗 Share this article British Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, States Regulator Traffic to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has increased. Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures After Law Implementation The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in visits to major pornography sites, including the top site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024. Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data shows this decline in site visits continued past August. Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic through another country—surged after 25 July. User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current figures at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services. Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content online. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the platform to blocking the user who posted it. This survey was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material. Government Announce Examination of Pornography Laws Separately, the government stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age. “The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official. Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Controls Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children. Proposed changes to legislation seek to: Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms. Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child. Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms. Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create private images without permission. Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content. The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
Traffic to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has increased. Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures After Law Implementation The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in visits to major pornography sites, including the top site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024. Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data shows this decline in site visits continued past August. Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic through another country—surged after 25 July. User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current figures at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services. Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content online. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the platform to blocking the user who posted it. This survey was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material. Government Announce Examination of Pornography Laws Separately, the government stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age. “The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official. Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Controls Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children. Proposed changes to legislation seek to: Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms. Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child. Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms. Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create private images without permission. Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content. The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.