British Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog

Traffic to pornography websites in the UK has fallen significantly after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to bypass these barriers has risen.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent data suggests this decline in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic blocks by routing internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.

Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the platform to muting the user who posted it.

This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Stricter Digital Controls

Campaigners for better control of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.

Suggested changes to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making 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 research suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.