UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Checks, But VPN Usage Surges, Reports Regulator

Traffic to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has surged.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Implementation

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in traffic to leading pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Later analysis shows this downward trend in site visits continued past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking internet traffic through another country—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the user who shared it.

This research was carried out prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Advocates Call For Tighter Online Controls

Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting youthful adults dressed as children.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.