UK Adult Content Traffic Falls After Age Verifications, But VPN Usage Surges, States Regulator

Access to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to dodge these blocks has increased.

Immediate Drop in User Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an prompt reduction in traffic to major pornography sites, including the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data shows this slump in site visits continued past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing connections through another nation—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 before the verification began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Material

In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the platform to muting the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.

Suggested changes to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.