British Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, But VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has risen.

Sharp Fall in User Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in traffic to popular online adult platforms, such as the leading provider in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this slump in site visits continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by routing internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Actions included flagging the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Tighter Online Controls

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults dressed as children.

Suggested changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.