UK Facing a “Sexit” of Porn Users

The new age-verification regulations scheduled to take effect in April will lead to a “Sexit” of UK users, half of whom said they would not comply, and would instead choosing VPNs or other work-arounds to avoid entering personal data, according to our study of over 25K xHamster users in Britain.

xHamster is complying with the regulations, and will introduce its own age-verification methods upon the announced date.

We conducted our 2019 Age-Verification Compliance Study over the course of six days in March, asking UK visitors to the site whether they were aware of the regulations, whether they planned to comply, and which methods they would use to do so.

“We launched this survey to help us understand how our own visitors planned to react, and were shocked by the large number we saw who were not planning to comply, which is why we are releasing this report.” said Alex Hawkins, Vice President of xHamster. “We are eager to work with the BBFC to help them find ways to better encourage compliance with the regulations.”

Given the attention given to the regulations in the UK, the answers surprised our data team. Nearly half the users surveyed were not even aware of the existence of such regulations.
Only 16.1% described themselves as “very aware” of the regulations, with another 25.5% describing themselves as “somewhat aware.”


The vast majority of users were unsure if they would comply with the law, with only a minority (34.5%) saying they would definitely comply.
Most users were still unsure if they would comply with the law. Regardless of their feelings about the regulations, a firm 25% of each said they would definitely not comply. Those who were aware of the regulations were more likely to comply, rising to about 40% — with about a third still unsure.

Privacy Concerns
The biggest issue faced was privacy concerns over data. Nearly 75% of respondents identified it as a major concern, with the fear of government intrusion following at 63%.
Respondents under 34 were significantly more likely to have concerns about nearly every aspect, and were twice as likely as older users to be concerned about added cost, and the possible restriction of other content, such as social media.

Older people were also more likely to believe the regulations could be effective, although overall the number who felt the regulations would be completely effective was less than 5%. The majority of all respondents, 59.1% did not believe the regulations would be effective.
Those who opposed the restrictions were also the most likely to believe they would not be at all effective. Of those who opposed the regulations, approximately 84% said they would be unsuccessful. They also — perhaps unsurprisingly — were the most likely to say they would not verify.
When presented with options, 47.2% of all users said they wouldn’t verify with the new system. Even among those who supported the legislation, 17% said they would not actually use the verification themselves.

A similarly small percentage of those who oppose the regulations, around 20%, say they will actually verify despite their opposition.

Most users who intend to get around the system plan to do so using a VPN, a number that rises significantly among the young, and those who oppose the regulations.
A surprising number say they will give up on online porn that requires such age-verification, likely instead to focus on file-sharing sites, social media or offline adult material — or perhaps swearing off porn altogether.

A majority of respondents said that, given the option of a VPN or offline, non-age-verified material, they’d go around the system — what we at the xHamster Data Center have termed a Sexit, in which vast numbers of adult content users either abandon regulated sites, or use a VPN to avoid detection by British authorities.

“We support efforts to limit access to adult material by under 18s, and we will be complying with the UK regulations,” said Hawkins. “However, the data seems to show that a vast majority of porn users will abandon the UK regulations, either by leaving UK internet space, or by abandoning online content altogether. Such a “Sexit” of nearly 60% of current adult content consumers has major implications, not just for adult sites, but for the BBFC which has designed the regulations.


CONTACT:
Alex Hawkins
Vice President, xHamster
alex.hawkins@xhamster.com