UK Adult Content Site Visits Falls Following Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Traffic to pornography sites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has risen.

Sharp Fall in User Figures Following Law Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an swift reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis shows this downward trend in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic through another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content online. Actions included reporting the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation

Separately, the ministers announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.