British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, States Regulator
Traffic to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has surged.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate reduction in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the most visited site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this slump in site visits persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks
In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content online. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to blocking the person who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new rules took effect that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Advocates Call For Stricter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
