UK Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Watchdog

Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.

Immediate Drop in User Numbers After Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift fall in visits to popular pornography sites, including the leading provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later data suggests this decline in site visits continued past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by routing connections via another country—surged following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Young People Responding to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.

Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Advocates Call For Stricter Online Regulations

Advocates for better regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.

Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Introduce 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 perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.