UK Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet VPN Use Spikes, States Regulator

Access to adult content websites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Law Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform 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 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this decline in site visits continued past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic through another country—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Material

In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content online. Actions included flagging the material to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This survey was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.

Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.