UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Verifications, But VPN Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the use of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has surged.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an swift fall in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis shows this decline in viewing persisted past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks

In response to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another nation—surged after 25 July.

Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest figures 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 Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the site to blocking the user who posted it.

This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Regulations

Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.