British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Identity Checks, But VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Traffic to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers After Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in traffic to popular pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this decline in site visits persisted beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by masking internet traffic through another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people before the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the site to blocking the user who shared it.

This research was conducted before new regulations took effect that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Examination of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.

Suggested amendments to legislation aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.