UK Adult Content Site Visits Falls Following Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Watchdog
Traffic to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these blocks has risen.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Implementation
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an prompt decline in traffic to popular online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data shows this decline in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who posted it.
This survey was conducted before new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Government Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Regulations
Campaigners for better control of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.
Proposed 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 creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.
