British Adult Content Site Visits Declines Following Identity Verifications, But VPN Use Spikes, States Regulator

Traffic to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has risen.

Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an swift reduction in visits to major pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis suggests this downward trend in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking connections via another nation—surged after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.

This research was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates for better control of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.

Proposed changes to legislation aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.