British Adult Content Traffic Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog

Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate reduction in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July implementation date. Subsequent data suggests this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

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

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Announce Review of Pornography Legislation

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

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using young-looking performers dressed as children.

Suggested changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.