British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Age Checks, But VPN Use Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an swift reduction in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Later data indicates this slump in site visits persisted beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks
In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic via another country—surged after 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification began. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to muting the person who posted it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Call For Tighter Online Controls
Advocates for tighter control of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.
Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
