Huge drop in porn site traffic shows age checks are working - CARE

A massive drop in porn site traffic since age verification was introduced at the end of July shows the new checks are working, the charity CARE said today.

New figures released by Data analytics firm Similarweb said Pornhub, the most popular site in the UK for adult content, lost more than one million visitors in just two weeks, following the implementation of age controls.

Between 24 July, one day before the new rules came into force, and 8 August, traffic to Pornhub fell by 47 per cent. Traffic to other leading porn sites like XVideos showed a similar drop.

The dramatic plummeting of users coincides with robust age checks being required under the Online Safety Act. In the immediate aftermath, there was considerable noise about the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) as a means of avoiding the checks.

But speaking today, Tim Cairns, Online Safety Lead for CARE said that despite the hysteria, the new data showed age checks were working:

“On one level, these new figures are hardly a surprise because if you make porn harder to access, then you’d expect to see a drop in users.

“But what is critical to note is this means thousands of children have been rightly prevented from seeing porn online. This includes explicit content that depicts violence against women.

“So despite all the hype and noise about people using virtual private networks to get round the age checks, actually what we are seeing in the early days of age checks is that the system is working.

“Thanks to age verification, we’ve gone from a situation where kids as young as 13 were accidently stumbling across porn online to one where the UK’s most popular porn site has seen traffic fall by nearly 50%.

“We now urge Ofcom to go after any porn site that is failing to comply with the new law. Our children deserve a porn free childhood.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

For interview requests, further reaction, or background: james.mildred@care.org.uk / 07717516814

Read CARE's response when age checks were introduced