British Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator
Traffic to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to bypass these barriers has risen.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures After Law Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis suggests this downward trend in site visits persisted beyond August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing internet traffic through another nation—surged after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This research was carried out before new rules came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the ministers stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Controls
Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.