UK Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Traffic to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the use of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has surged.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate fall in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis suggests this downward trend in viewing continued past August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by routing internet traffic via another nation—surged after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Laws

Separately, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Tighter Online Controls

Campaigners for better control of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.

Suggested changes to legislation aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.