British Adult Content Traffic Falls After Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator

Access to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to dodge these blocks has increased.

Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an swift fall in visits to major online adult platforms, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Later data shows this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking internet traffic through another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations took effect that require platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.

Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded 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.
• Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Introduce further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.