UK Adult Content Traffic Declines After Age Checks, But VPN Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Traffic to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.

Immediate Drop in User Figures After Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an prompt fall in visits to popular pornography sites, including the top provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis suggests this decline in viewing continued past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking connections through another country—surged after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people before the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions included flagging the material to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Controls

Advocates for better control of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.

Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Introduce further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.