UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Traffic to pornography platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Law Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an swift fall in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Later analysis suggests this downward trend in site visits continued past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out before new rules came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates for better regulation 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 young-looking performers portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site systems.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.