UK Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the UK has fallen significantly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to bypass these barriers has increased.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate fall in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July deadline. Subsequent data shows this decline in site visits persisted past August.

Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic through another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the site to muting the user who posted it.

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

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the ministers announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Advocates Push For Tighter Online Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.

Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
• Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.