UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.

Immediate Fall in User Numbers After Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt reduction in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this downward trend in viewing continued past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the material to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Advocates Call For Stricter Online Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content 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 young-looking performers portraying children.

Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.