UK Adult Content Traffic Falls After Age Verifications, But VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Access to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications authority. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has risen.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in visits to popular pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July implementation date. Subsequent data suggests this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 users prior to the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material

In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content online. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the site to blocking the user who shared it.

This survey was conducted before new rules took effect that require social media companies to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws

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

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.

Suggested changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.

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