UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Traffic to adult content websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.
Sharp Drop in User Figures Following Law Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate decline in visits to major pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis suggests this slump in viewing continued beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks
In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by routing internet traffic via another country—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the material to the site to blocking the person who posted it.
This research was conducted prior to new rules took effect that require platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Ministers Announce Review of Pornography Laws
In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.
Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
- Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
