British Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, But VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator

Access to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has increased.

Sharp Drop in User Numbers After Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, such as the leading provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July implementation date. Subsequent data shows this downward trend in viewing persisted past August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.

This research was carried out before new rules came into force that compel platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government announced it would examine the legislation governing 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, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.

Suggested changes to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and act on reports of unlawful content.

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