British Adult Content Site Visits Falls Following Age Checks, But VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator
Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has increased.
Sharp Fall in User Figures After Rule Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate decline in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period 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 end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Checks
In response to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by routing connections via another country—surged after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material
In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the material to the platform to muting the user who posted it.
This survey was conducted before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Launch Review of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Campaigners Call For Tighter Digital Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software 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 argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.