British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Checks, Yet VPN Usage Surges, Reports Regulator

Access to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications regulator. At the same time, the use of tools designed to dodge these barriers has surged.

Immediate Fall in User Figures Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt fall in traffic to leading pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later data indicates this decline in site visits persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by routing connections via another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Young People Responding to Damaging Material

In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the site to blocking the person who posted it.

This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the ministers announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern online world.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Advocates Push For Stricter Online Regulations

Advocates for better regulation of online pornography 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 performers dressed as children.

Suggested changes to legislation aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• 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 existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.