British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Access to pornography sites in the UK has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation

The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to popular pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis suggests this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the checks began. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

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

This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations

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

Proposed amendments to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.