British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Identity Verifications, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Watchdog

Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has surged.

Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in traffic to major online adult platforms, such as the leading site in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent data shows this decline in viewing persisted beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

In response to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by routing connections through another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the regulator's report 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 content to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This research was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide 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

In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Stricter Digital Controls

Campaigners for better control of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.

Proposed changes to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

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