British Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Watchdog

Traffic to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has risen.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate fall in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this decline in viewing persisted beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic through another nation—surged after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the platform to muting the user who posted it.

This survey was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

Separately, the ministers stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.

Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.