UK Pornography Site Visits Falls Following Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Regulator

Access to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has surged.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period 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 end-of-July deadline. Later data indicates this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic through another country—more than doubled after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content online. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation

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

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Controls

Advocates for better regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking adults dressed as children.

Proposed changes to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.