UK Adult Content Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, But VPN Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog

Access to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers After Law Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in traffic to popular online adult platforms, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline 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 settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July implementation date. Later data suggests this slump in site visits continued past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by masking internet traffic through another nation—surged after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the verification began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content online. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out before new rules took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.

Government Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Tighter Online Controls

Advocates for better control of online pornography have urged 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 portraying children.

Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.