UK Adult Content Traffic Declines After Age Verifications, But VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Traffic to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to dodge these barriers has surged.

Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift reduction in visits to popular pornography sites, including the leading provider in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks

In response to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic through another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Young People Responding to Damaging Material

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to blocking the user who shared it.

This survey was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern online world.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Advocates Push For Stricter Online Regulations

Campaigners for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.

Suggested changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.