UK Adult Content Traffic Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, States Regulator

Access to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to dodge these blocks has increased.

Immediate Fall in User Numbers After Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an prompt decline in traffic to leading pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July deadline. Later data indicates this decline in site visits continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by masking connections through another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users before the checks began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Young People Responding to Damaging Material

In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the material to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.

This survey was carried out prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Government Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations

Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.

Suggested changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.