UK Adult Content Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop since the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Drop in User Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an swift fall in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis shows this downward trend in site visits persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by routing connections via another nation—surged after 25 July.

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.

This survey was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the government announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Controls

Campaigners for better control of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.

Suggested changes to legislation aim to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

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