British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Watchdog
Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications authority. At the same time, the use of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has surged.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in traffic to major online adult platforms, such as the leading site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this decline in site visits persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking connections through another country—more than doubled after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures 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 watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content online. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.
This survey was conducted before new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“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 promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
- Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
