British Adult Content Site Visits Declines Following Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Watchdog

Visitor numbers to adult content platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to bypass these barriers has surged.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis shows this slump in site visits persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

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

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content online. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the platform to muting the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the government stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting youthful adults dressed as children.

Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.