UK Adult Content Site Visits Falls Following Age Verifications, But VPN Use Spikes, States Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the adoption of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt reduction in visits to major pornography sites, including the most visited site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis shows this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by routing connections via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.

This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.

Suggested changes to legislation aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.