‘I watch more hardcore stuff on unregulated sites’: Men reveal how their porn habits have changed since age verification

[Jim Burton]

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/love-se ... ification/

Back in July, Ray* stopped watching porn in protest at the introduction of age verification. At first, he found it made his sex life more vanilla. “I have been a little less creative in bed as I’m not trying anything I’ve recently seen [online] with my girlfriend,” he says. But it’s also become more rewarding. “It does feel healthier [...] and it’s made ‘normal’ sex a little more exciting.”

In case you’ve been living off grid (no judgement here) the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) meant that from 25 July, any website with 18+ content must ask users in the UK for ID, which, of course, includes porn sites. Essentially, a virtual bouncer appeared in the lobby of all NSFW sites overnight (thankfully, there isn’t a dress code). It was introduced to stop under-18s from accessing porn, but because of these new barriers, some men over the age of 18, like Ray (who watched porn via free tube sites), have cut down, due to not wanting to share their ID. “It’s reduced my porn usage by 99%,” the 36-year-old workplace trainer says. But others have simply changed what, or how, they’re watching — and, in some cases, gone even harder.