British Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Traffic to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.

Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt fall in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this decline in viewing continued past August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks

In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another country—surged following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.

This research was carried out prior to new rules took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.

“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Regulations

Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.