British Adult Content Site Visits Falls Following Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Access to adult content websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has increased.

Sharp Fall in User Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an swift decline in visits to leading pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July implementation date. Later data indicates this slump in site visits persisted past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by masking connections via another country—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 noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult services.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the material to the platform to muting the person who posted it.

This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.

Government Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban 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.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

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