UK Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Regulator

Traffic to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has surged.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in visits to major pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Later analysis suggests this downward trend in site visits persisted beyond August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Checks

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by masking connections through another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Young People Responding to Harmful Material

In other findings, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.

This research was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

Separately, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Advocates Call For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates 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 appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers dressed as children.

Proposed changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally are extended to the online sphere.