UK Adult Content Traffic Falls Following Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Traffic to pornography websites in the UK has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has surged.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift fall in traffic to popular online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline 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 settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Later data shows this decline in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by routing connections via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult services.

Young People Responding to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out before new rules took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the government announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Advocates Push For Tighter Online Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.

Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.