British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to dodge these barriers has surged.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an swift fall in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this decline in viewing persisted past August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking connections through another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

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

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.

Suggested changes to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.