British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Regulator

Access to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these restrictions has risen.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an swift fall in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis shows this decline in site visits persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by masking internet traffic through another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Material

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the site to muting the user who shared it.

This research was conducted prior to new rules came into force that require platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.

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

Advocates Call For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.