British Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Traffic to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has risen.

Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate fall in visits to leading pornography sites, including the leading site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later data indicates this decline in site visits continued past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by routing connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people before the checks began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.

This research was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

Separately, the government announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.

Proposed changes to legislation aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.