UK Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Access to adult content websites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has surged.
Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Law Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an swift decline in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Later analysis shows this decline in viewing continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by masking connections through another country—surged following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.
Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content online. Steps taken included flagging the material to the site to blocking the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that compel platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the ministers announced 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 effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Add additional controls 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 inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.
