UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Access to adult content platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to bypass these blocks has risen.

Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the top provider in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis shows this decline in site visits continued past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.

This research was conducted before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.

Government Launch Review of Pornography Laws

Separately, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Advocates Call For Tighter Online Controls

Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.

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