British Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these blocks has increased.

Sharp Drop in User Figures After Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift decline in traffic to major pornography sites, including the most visited site in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data indicates this slump in viewing continued beyond August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing connections through another nation—surged after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the verification began. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the site to muting the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that compel platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as 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 algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Government Launch Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Advocates Call For Stricter Online Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.

Proposed changes to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.