UK Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Access to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly since the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has surged.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate fall in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers 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 data suggests this decline in site visits persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing connections via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification began. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Responding to Damaging Material

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

This research was conducted before new rules came into force that require platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.

Suggested changes to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.