British Adult Content Site Visits Declines Following Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Watchdog

Traffic to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Implementation

The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate reduction in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the most visited site in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this decline in viewing continued past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic blocks by masking internet traffic through another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people before the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with current 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 Harmful Material

In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new rules took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Tighter Online Regulations

Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Introduce further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.