British Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Identity Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.

Sharp Fall in User Figures After Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt decline in visits to leading pornography sites, including the top site in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later data indicates this decline in viewing persisted beyond August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing connections via another nation—surged following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current figures at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the user who shared it.

This research was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.

Suggested changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.