UKS New Onlineโ age Verification Law Drives Traffic to Unchecked Pornography Sites
LONDON โ – The united Kingdom’s โrecently enforced Online Safetyโฃ Act age-check rules are producing an unintended โoutcome: a surge in traffic to pornography websites that don’t verify user ages, while sites complying โฃwith the โฃlaw are โseeing potential visitors diverted elsewhere. The Washington Post reported on the early effectsโ of the legislation, which requires adult websites to confirmโ users are over 18, frequently enough through methods like facial scans or IDโข verification.
The law, intended to protect children from accessing harmful content, is creating a digital divide where compliantโ platformsโฃ face reduced traffic โand those avoiding verification benefit from increasedโฃ viewership. An analysis by the Post of the top 90 pornography sites based on UK visitor data from Similarweb revealed 14 sites still operating without age checks. โAllโ 14 experienced a meaningful increase in โคtraffic, with one site reportingโค a doublingโ of visitors year-over-year.
The Online Safety Act mandates that online platforms prevent children from โbeing exposed to adult content, leading โฃto age verification measures on sites like Bluesky and Reddit for โsome users. However, many websites are simultaneously complying with the law while voicing opposition, linking to petitions for its repeal, or even providing workarounds forโ users.
“this is โa textbook illustration of the law of unintended consequences,” said John Scott-Railton, a researcher at the University of Toronto’s Citizen lab, to the Post. “Theโค law suppresses traffic toโ compliant platforms whileโ driving users to โsites without ageโ verification.” Theโข findings raiseโ concerns about the effectiveness of the law in achieving its stated goal and โhighlight the challenges of regulating onlineโข content.
