British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Watchdog

Access to pornography platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has risen.

Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an swift fall in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the most visited site in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the late July deadline. Later analysis indicates this decline in site visits continued past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking internet traffic through another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the material to the platform to muting the user who posted it.

This survey was conducted prior to new rules came into force that compel platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Government Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation

In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Tighter Online Controls

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

Suggested changes to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.