British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the UK has fallen significantly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has increased.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures After Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an swift reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period 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 downward trend in viewing persisted beyond August.

Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people before the checks began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the site to blocking the user who posted it.

This research was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the government stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Advocates Call For Stricter Online Controls

Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting youthful adults dressed as children.

Proposed changes to legislation aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.