Porn site traffic plummets as UK age verification rules enforced

In the United Kingdom, the number of people visiting popular adult websites has dropped sharply since new age verification rules were put in place. These rules are designed to make sure that only adults can access explicit content online. According to Similarweb, a company that analyzes website traffic, Pornhub, which is the most visited adult site in the UK, lost more than one million visitors in just two weeks after the new rules started on July 25. Pornhub and other major adult sites began using advanced age checks, which require users to prove they are old enough to view the material.

Similarweb compared the average daily number of visitors to these sites from August 1 to August 9 with the average numbers from July. The results showed that Pornhub experienced a 47% decrease in traffic between July 24, the day before the new rules began, and August 8. Another popular site, XVideos, also saw a 47% drop in visitors, while OnlyFans had a decrease of more than 10%. In July, Pornhub had about 3. 2 million daily visits, but in the first nine days of August, that number fell to 2 million.

Interestingly, while the big sites lost visitors, some smaller and less regulated adult websites saw an increase in traffic. A spokesperson for Pornhub told the BBC that this pattern has been seen in other countries too. When some sites follow strict rules, people often turn to sites that do not. The UK's new online safety laws require websites to verify users' ages using methods like credit card checks, photo ID matching, or even estimating age with a selfie. Ofcom, the UK's media regulator, estimates that 14 million people watch online adult content. Some critics worry that these rules could push people toward more extreme or dangerous content on less regulated parts of the internet, such as the dark web. After the rules were enforced, VPN apps, which can hide a user's location online, became the most downloaded apps in the UK. This makes it harder to track how many people are visiting adult sites from the UK. The new rules aim to protect young people, but there are concerns about unintended consequences. If you have downloaded a VPN or have opinions about the new laws, the BBC is inviting people to share their experiences.