UK Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to circumvent these barriers has increased.

Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an swift fall in traffic to major online adult platforms, such as the top site in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data suggests this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by masking connections through another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people before the checks began. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the site to muting the person who posted it.

This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Examination of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the digital age.