British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has increased.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate fall in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the top site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this decline in site visits continued beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic through another nation—surged after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who posted it.

This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations

Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the digital age.