British Adult Content Site Visits Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet VPN Use Surges, States Watchdog

Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has fallen significantly since the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to bypass these blocks has surged.

Sharp Drop in User Figures Following Law Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an prompt fall in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits persisted beyond August.

Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by routing connections through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to blocking the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that require platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for better control of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.

Suggested changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the digital age.