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    UK porn traffic down since beginning of age checks but VPN use up, says Ofcom
    United Kingdom

    UK porn traffic down since beginning of age checks but VPN use up, says Ofcom

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    34 Comments

    2. JackStrawWitchita on

      Porn traffic is not down, it’s being routed through VPNs and sites who don’t monitor where traffic comes from. The government is desperately trying to spin this failed policy.

    4. Dude4001 on

      What’s the benefit to the country of reduced porn use? How is the economy booming based on this change?

    5. tuna_pannini on

      The same people who introduced this policy think that banning torrents on isp level stopped piracy.

    6. west0ne on

      So Ofcom and the Government are claiming OSA as a success and so are VPN providers but for a different reason.

      Do Ofcom and the Government really believe that the population of Panama increased by tens of millions overnight.

    7. Blank3k on

      All the child predators evaporated when the porn ban landed too, it was like a switch they just disappeared from the radar.. such a successful scheme. /s

    9. random_user_1968 on

      I use a VPN, I’m an adult, there’s nobody under 18 in my home so we’ll do whatever we want.

    10. D1789 on

      As the phrase goes:

      > There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

      Lie to get the law in; use statistics to say the law is successful.

    11. Neddlings55 on

      Does this take into account browsers like Opera that have built in VPNs? Or just ones that people download and/or pay for?

    14. ChickenPijja on

      In other news: water makes things wet. My projection for the UK’s weather in 2026: It’ll rain at some point

      It’s significantly easier to get a VPN that you can then use for Reddit, porn sites, imgur, youtube and so many more, than it is to verify your identity on every one of those sites.

    15. dont-try-do on

      I work with kids as part of social services and what not.

      If you think this porn block is protecting kids you’re old hat. Snapchat and other group chat messaging services are absolutely loaded with porn and IIOC.

      Every school is having an issue with children sharing self generated images.

      Snapchat quick add is absolutely horrific for this. Kids get spammed with ‘do you send’ and ‘share?’. It’s as easy as that for them.

      Also kids are smart this block is trivial to bypass. There are numerous web browsers in the app store by reputable providers that have free VPNs built in.

    16. sober_disposition on

      The objective of this policy wasn’t to stop us watching porn, it was to “protect our children”.

      Do we really think the reduction in traffic is simply due to children not being able to access porn anymore?

    17. Greymon-Katratzi on

      We all knew this would happen. It shut up the ‘Think of the children’ brigade. Who I am sure will now try to ban teens from social media.

    18. Statement-Acceptable on

      I find the funniest part of the OSA is that the more nefarious porn sites are the ones that have not been caught by the OSA because they DGAF about following the rules.

      Complete and utter waste of time there are so many ways around the OSA and if a 41yr old man can do it you can bet your fucking house 14yr old kids have also found ways around it.

    19. No_Dot_7136 on

      In other news… Water is wet. Everyone knew this was going to be the result of the age verification, even the people who thought it up and imposed it, knew it, surely? Because you’d have to be a god damn idiot to have not seen this coming.

    20. Organic_Armadillo_10 on

      Well duh. A VPN gets around the blocks in basically 2 seconds and 3 clicks… Thankfully VPN’s get around most Internet geographic blocks.

      And much like when Netflix and steaming sites tried blocking them. The next day they’d work again as they’d have fixed it and found new ways around it.

      You stick blocks up, people will find a way around.

      That’s why the social media ban for under 16’s in Australia is pointless too. Yes it’ll probably prevent them accessing it briefly, but they’ll find other ways around or they’ll find other sites to use to get around it. It’s just human nature – that’s why smuggling exists and speakeasy’s were created. To get around bans.

      Social media may not be healthy in some cases, but blocking it isn’t the solution. Especially for kids who have grown up in a social media era, while Millennials like me we’re around just at the start of it. Social media means news, research, connection and even job opportunities these days. Cutting it off rather than making parent more responsible and having more education about it seems stupid.

    21. Delicious_Bet_6336 on

      Unrelated to this but I’m getting a higher than normal number of Dutch and Albanian (I think) adverts on my podcasts at the moment…

    22. S1mbathecub on

      My VPN connected to Belgium has been permanently on for 128 days now.

      I think after 5 years I’ll be eligible for EU citizenship again

    26. Scr1mmyBingus on

      Petty vandalism such as graffiti is down 80%, while heavy sack beatings are up a shocking
      900%

    27. DevOpsJo on

      Imagine living in a nanny state controlled by an overactive government restricting your rights to enjoyment and free speech. Yet turning a blind eye to illegal aliens. Oh wait..

    31. TigerBone on

      Can someone in the UK explain to me why you guys have an NGO staffed by unelected randoms that decides what’s OK to show on TV, Radio and the Internet? What a bizarre and undemocratic system this is. They are even hiring expensive lawyers on the tax payer dime to pay for suing 4chan and Kiwi Farms, totally foreign organizations. What a country lol.

    32. Tenk-o on

      Essentially porn consumption has diversified instead of stopped. VPN usage, using less well tracked sites which are typically filled with more unregulated content and some people are now getting their jollies off to stranger, more innoculous content legally allowed online such as public bikini photos at the beach or images of their female classmates. Which is arguably blurring the line between consentual and nonconsentual image usage for more people.

      But hey, at least you can call a significant portion of your voterbase predators for having reservations about giving more of their data over to third party ID apps.

    33. ermCaz on

      Of all the websites I frequent 2 out of 5 are “blocked” by this crap. 1 is actually blocking UK IP’s and the other has a message saying “Join our discord on how to get around this” 😂.