British Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Identity Checks, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the usage of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has increased.

Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an immediate decline in traffic to popular pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Later data shows this slump in viewing persisted past August.

Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing connections through another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to muting the user who posted it.

This research was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Government Launch Examination of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Advocates Call For Tighter Online Regulations

Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.

Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Introduce further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.