UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines Following Age Checks, But VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the UK has fallen significantly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has increased.

Immediate Fall in User Numbers After Law Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the leading site in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis shows this slump in site visits persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—surged after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to muting the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out before new regulations came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Advocates Push For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates for better regulation of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation aim to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the digital age.