UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Access to adult content sites in the UK has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to dodge these barriers has surged.

Sharp Drop in User Figures After Law Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate fall in traffic to leading online adult platforms, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July implementation date. Later data indicates this decline in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks

In response to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking connections through another nation—surged following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest figures at around 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Steps taken included flagging the material to the site to muting the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out before new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

Separately, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Tighter Online Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.

Proposed amendments to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making 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 research indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.