UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines Following Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Fall in User Figures After Law Implementation

The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt reduction in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the top site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks

In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking connections via another nation—surged following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Government Announce Review of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations

Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.