British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Drop in User Figures After Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate decline in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data shows that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this decline in viewing continued beyond August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content online. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to muting the person who posted it.

This research was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Government Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates for better control of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking performers dressed as children.

Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings 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.
• Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
• Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of unlawful content.

The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the digital age.