British Adult Content Site Visits Declines Following Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog
Access to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.
Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Enforcement
The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis shows this decline in site visits persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by masking connections through another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people before the verification began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.
This survey was conducted prior to new rules took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Laws
Separately, the ministers stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
