UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, But VPN Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog

Access to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the usage of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has surged.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits persisted past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material

In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content online. Actions included flagging 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 stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.

Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the government announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls

Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.