British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Regulator
Access to pornography websites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has surged.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in visits to popular online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites 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 continued past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks
Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by routing connections through another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to muting the person who posted it.
This research was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Advocates for better control of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.