UK Adult Content Traffic Declines After Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has surged.

Sharp Drop in User Figures Following Law Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate decline in traffic to popular pornography sites, including the top provider 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 pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data suggests this slump in site visits continued past August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Checks

In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.

This research was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Government Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls

Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.

Suggested changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal 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 indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.