UK Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Watchdog

Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these barriers has surged.

Sharp Fall in User Figures Following Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in traffic to popular pornography sites, including the top site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

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

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another country—more than doubled after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the site to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted prior to new rules came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Government Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the government stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Controls

Advocates for tighter control of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.

Suggested changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, 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 pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.