UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet VPN Use Surges, States Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has surged.

Immediate Drop in User Numbers Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt reduction in traffic to popular pornography sites, including the leading site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis shows this slump in viewing persisted past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Checks

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

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people before the checks began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Actions included flagging the content to the platform to muting the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations took effect that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of adult content have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.