British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Age Verifications, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these restrictions has surged.

Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an swift reduction in traffic to major pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis suggests this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking connections through another country—surged following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Young People Responding to Damaging Material

In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This survey was conducted before new rules took effect that require platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.

Government Announce Review of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the government announced it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls

Campaigners for better control of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.