British Adult Content Site Visits Falls Following Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the UK has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications authority. At the same time, the use of tools designed to dodge these barriers has increased.

Sharp Drop in User Figures After Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July implementation date. Subsequent data shows this downward trend in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another nation—surged after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult services.

Young People Responding to Harmful Material

In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content online. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.

Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, 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 steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.