British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Age Checks, Yet VPN Usage Surges, Reports Regulator

Traffic to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to dodge these blocks has surged.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Implementation

The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt reduction in visits to popular online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the checks began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content online. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to blocking the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the ministers stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the digital age.