Porn in the UK just entered a new era. Thanks to the large-scale Online Safety Act interventions, gone are the days of simply ticking a box to say you’re over 18.
Instead, anyone wanting to view such content must now pass stricter age checks – entering credit card details, uploading photo ID, or even using AI-based facial scans.
The aim of all this, according to the UK’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), is to keep children away from content that “would previously have been considered extreme” but has “become part of mainstream online pornography”.
“When young people access this material,” DCMS adds, “it risks normalising behaviour that might be harmful to their future emotional and psychological development.”
But the impact of this Act isn’t limited to young people. For adults, the new delays mean pornography is no longer a click away. The age verification interruptions – however small – are already prompting some habitual users to pause, reflect, and reconsider their choices. And that could be a good thing.
Drawing the line
Before anything else, we need to address the elephant in the room: how can a person tell if they watch ‘too much’ pornography? This can be challenging as defining what counts as ‘normal’ is notoriously difficult. Frequency, context and personal impact vary widely between individuals.
As French psychologist Dr Florian Vörös points out, “addiction to pornography” is not an exact science with fixed boundaries, but “a malleable concept developing out of a melting pot of different knowledge and beliefs.”
That said, even occasional porn use has been associated with changes in emotional regulation and unrealistic expectations around intimacy. Frequent consumption can impact attention spans, mood and overall relationship satisfaction. Some regular users report becoming desensitised to extremely graphic adult content, also known as ‘supernormal’ sexual stimuli. The impulse to ‘use’ porn can even strengthen over time due to repeat exposure.
At the same time, it’s been argued that academic studies approach general porn use with an underlying assumption that porn is always harmful – that the potential positives are often overlooked. Not everyone who uses porn experiences problems, and some people report perceived benefits from its use, such as stress relief or increased arousal.
There comes a point, however, where a person’s porn use becomes compulsive and emotionally driven, interfering with their daily life. This is when intervention is required.
But even for those nowhere near that threshold, the new checks could still bring unexpected positives.
Impulse check
Recently, in my role as psychologist, I spoke with a young man who described himself as an “occasional porn user" (he wished to remain anonymous, so let's refer to him as ‘Peter’).
He recently encountered the UK’s new age verification checks and found them to be unexpectedly frustrating.
“I was in bed,” Peter says. “I tried the facial scan, but it didn’t work. I didn’t want to get up and find my credit card. Then I had to switch the light on for the AI facial recognition process to work, and it failed twice in the end.”
Annoyed, he gave up and went to sleep. Peter explained that over the following nights, accessing porn, an experience that had once been instant and effortless, now felt like a hassle. This small delay had interrupted his usual behaviour.
In psychology, this shift is described as moving from impulsive to reflective behaviour. Impulsive behaviour is driven by immediate desires or emotions, often without thought for the long-term consequences.
Reflective behaviour, on the other hand, involves pausing to weigh options and consider future outcomes before acting – exactly what Peter experienced when the new checks disrupted his usual routine.
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These two systems – impulsive and reflective – often operate in opposition, especially when habitual or emotionally charged behaviours like porn use are involved. In fact, one way to understand how certain behaviours – like compulsive porn use – can become difficult to control is by thinking about a tug-of-war between the systems in the brain.
In the early stages of a behaviour becoming addictive, the impulsive system begins to dominate. The brain becomes highly sensitive to cues (for example, a notification, a memory or even boredom) that trigger cravings. Over time, these cues and cravings become more powerful, and the behaviour gets more ingrained.
As the behaviour becomes entrenched, the reflective system seems to lose its grip and is overpowered by impulse. The behaviour may continue even when it no longer feels good, and even when it leads to negative consequences. It becomes more like a habit than a choice.
Brain imaging studies suggest that people who struggle with compulsive sexual behaviours show increased activity in both systems. Their impulsive systems light up in response to cues, while their reflective systems work harder to try and regulate these impulses. This suggests that the brain is under stress – trying to manage temptation and impulse, but ultimately failing.
Behavioural addiction research has discovered that the ability to suppress impulse control is weaker in people who have stronger addictive tendencies towards cybersex.
This is why even small interruptions, like the new age verification checks, might inadvertently matter to people like Peter. They may simply give his reflective system a chance to catch up and ask, “Do I really want to watch pornography right now?"
Hitting reset
And if those small interruptions inspire a complete break from porn – what happens next? Research suggests that even relatively short-term abstinence from porn can lead to noticeable shifts in behaviour.
A few experimental studies have seen outcomes such as improved relationship commitment and the ability to delay gratification-seeking behaviours, as well as enhanced self-reflection on behavioural patterns.
For those who feel their use is becoming habitual or emotionally driven, a break may offer a kind of reset – a chance to notice triggers, reflect on needs and explore other ways of connecting.
Some refer to this kind of break as ‘rebooting’ their relationship with porn. Over time, some people who’ve ‘rebooted’ report feeling more present in their relationships, more focused at work and less reliant on digital stimulation to manage boredom or stress.
If you’re worried about your porn use, signs of overuse can include: feeling incredibly irritable when access is blocked, using porn to manage difficult emotions or struggling to stop watching even when you want to. These aren’t diagnostic criteria, but gentle indications that it might be worth taking a step back.
If you think your porn use has become habitual and you want to kick the habit, journaling and tracking triggers can be useful. Knowing why and when you’re more likely to turn to porn can help you to redirect the behaviour.
Similarly, setting specific goals, such as quitting porn for one week, can help you stick to the challenge better than quitting for an undefined period. If you feel you have no control over these behaviours at all, you should seek support from peers or professionals.
These tactics can complement the momentary breaks that the age verification checks are bringing, helping to foster more intentionality around porn use. And stepping back doesn’t have to mean quitting entirely. Introducing moments of interruption can help your reflective system regain its footing and remind us that choice is still possible.
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