UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has surged.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures After Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate decline in traffic to leading pornography sites, including the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 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 late July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this decline in site visits persisted beyond August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Checks

In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking connections through another country—surged 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 checks began. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.

This research was conducted before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Campaigners Call For Tighter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking performers 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.
• Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.