UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Watchdog

Access to adult content websites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.

Immediate Fall in User Figures Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate fall in traffic to leading pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this slump in viewing persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by masking connections via another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Young People Responding to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations

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

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings 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.
• Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.