British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, But VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these barriers has surged.

Immediate Drop in User Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in visits to popular pornography sites, including the leading site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing connections through another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to muting the user who posted it.

This research was carried out prior to new rules took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Government Announce Examination of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.