British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has decreased markedly since the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has surged.

Sharp Drop in User Figures Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt decline in traffic to major pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data suggests this decline in site visits persisted past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic through another nation—surged after 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people before the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.

Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to blocking the person who posted it.

This research was carried out before new rules came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Legislation

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

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for better control of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting youthful adults dressed as children.

Proposed changes to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings 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.
• Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.