UK Adult Content Traffic Falls Following Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Regulator

Access to pornography websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these barriers has increased.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in traffic to popular pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this decline in site visits persisted past August.

Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people before the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This research was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the government announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.

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