UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of tools designed to bypass these barriers has surged.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures After Law Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate fall in visits to popular online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis suggests this downward trend in viewing persisted past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another country—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions included flagging the material to the site to muting the user who posted it.

This research was conducted before new rules came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Controls

Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.

Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in environments 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.
• Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.