Less traffic to porn sites since age rules

[AsTreesWalking]

BBC News - Porn site traffic plummets as UK age verification rules enforced
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17n9k54qz2o

This is good news; and incredibly depressing as it suggests that 2 million of Porn Hub's regular users were under 18

But I was told it would make no difference at all because kids are all tech wizards and would simply use a VPN immediately!! (Can only assume the guys saying that had not interacted with any young teens recently, they have rubbish computer skills!)

That's really good news.

The stats are unreliable I think because they won't count users who've downloaded a VPN and are appearing to be in another country. It actually says as much in the article.
It also says that traffic to smaller sites that don't comply with the regulations are up.
I don't oppose the changes btw, but I'm not sure the raw numbers are telling the full story here.

Presumably means that many of those viewing other human beings being exploited and abused for pleasure are frightened that their viewing habits may become public through a data leak. Obviously not happy admitting what they do.

Traffic to the sites plummeted- regardless of where they were accessed from surely. So that’s not about VPNs.

I’m sure people will get there again, but it’s slowed it down a bit at least.

Doesn't it also include all the adults who don't want to verify their ID as opposed to just being kids?

No, not all them would have been under 18. Lots will be adults who just don't want to put their ID/credit card details into a porn site so have stopped using it. They will just be using VPNs instead or unofficial sites.

That's not what those statistics show. The drop doesn't just relate to underage users, although they will be part of it. It relates to anyone who couldn't / wouldn't upload ID or images of themselves to a site outside of their control.

A significant proportion of that drop will also be people who have downloaded a VPN and so will not be included in the figures for UK viewers because they are technically "elsewhere" when they view the material.

That's why, Augarden , there's actually no way to tell whether kids have just switched to VPNs. But we can say that VPNs have been the most downloaded apps over the last few weeks.

I don't think it does. I think it means Porn Hub users don't want to declare their identity.

This is good news; and incredibly depressing as it suggests that 2 million of Porn Hub's regular users were under 18

How do you figure? There is no data to suggest this is the case.

Ah, I hadn't thought of that. Still cautiously glad that usage has reduced.

Unfortunately, I think that's just poor reporting from the BBC. Other articles I've seen that mention the analysis have said British traffic.

e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/13/porn-site-traffic-falls-online-safety-act-age-checks

Unfortunately I haven't found the report itself.

From the Guardian

A spokesperson for Pornhub said: “As we’ve seen in many jurisdictions around the world, there is often a drop in traffic for compliant sites and an increase in traffic for non-compliant sites.”

I believe that the spokesman is lying. I believe the truth is (and he knows it) “As we’ve seen in many jurisdictions around the world, there is often a drop in non-VPN traffic for compliant sites, an increase in VPN use on compliant sites and an uplift in traffic for non-compliant sites.”

He wants to present the problem as being the bad pornographers, not the good ones like pornhub. In reality the problem is (IMHO) the volume of porn, the amount of porn use, the violent and unrealistic and deeply perverted content of a huge majority of porn, and children's access to porn.

Whilst some sites may have less horrific content and more (in relative terms) "nice porn" (I believe it is reasonable to state that a couple who are appearing to be having loving, gentle, consensual, pleasurable one-on-one sex is "nice porn", in relative terms, when compared to other porn which I will resist giving an example of) the world of porn is certainly not split into good guys like pornhub on the one side and the baddies on the other.

In my view, if we ignore the freedom of speech and expression costs (which we shouldn't) the online safety act does little to reduce children's access to porn or porn use, and it does precisely nothing to reduce porn's ubiquity or the fact that huge swathes of porn is absolutely horrible (including, of course, on pornhub).

as it suggests that 2 million of Porn Hub's regular users were under 18

Not necessarily. A good portion of those 2 million will be adults who just can't be arsed with the age verification. I use Reddit which has started requiring age verification for anything marked as Not Safe For Work, which is about half the site, not just the porn. I've not verified my age, (mainly because it looks like a faff, and I'm lazy). So now I just don't see half of Reddit.

Also, there's still plenty of porn sites on that don't require the age checks, so plenty of adults will have just moved across to them. They're likely to even dodgier than the Pornhubs of the world unfortunately.

Would be interesting to see the data on downloads of VPNs in the last few weeks…

It's not just about not being arsed, it is about not putting your data at risk - maybe the OSA will help some people stay safer online, but other people will find themselves harmed as a result of handing over their personal data to companies who are checking ID.

I can't access reddit anyway (life ban for saying men are not women!) but I'm not giving my ID to Musk to access the odd bit of twitter content that is currently being hidden from me.

I was able to set up a new Reddit account when I got a new phone, after a lifetime ban for similar reasons.

Just in case you ever want to be on Reddit again.

That was my first thought. Its a masterstroke. These men now have to identify themselves so they're screwed either way.

I don;t think what you are saying is true. It seems to me that Free VPNs and porn sites that are ignoring the law are the reason why children in the UK, and adults who do not wish to age verify, are still able to access porn, as well as other content (including news) which the government's threats have lead to social media companies hiding from unverified UK-based users.

I’m the same. I don’t look at anything pornographic on reddit but that’s not the only stuff they want age verification for. And I’ve not bothered.

I don't think it means loads of kids were watching porn. More that adults don't want the companies behind the sites having their details.

Several weeks in, using Reddit daily, and they haven't asked me for age verification. It's a vastly overstated "problem" and makes me question the reliability of people complaining about it.

VPN requests have increased though. Not sure if traffic from those computers is counted in the figures.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn72ydj70g5o?app-referrer=search

how are they "screwed either way"
There are quite a few free vpns and a couple of browsers that either have built in vpns or built in such a way as to get around this sort of thing.

It's not to access the site, it's to access specific material on a site. So for social media that allows porn materials (reddit, x, etc.), they don't age-gate the site itself, they age-gate the porn images/videos on the site.

It is interesting, however, how that technology "didn't exist" until it was required by law.