British Pornography Site Visits Declines After Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these barriers has surged.

Immediate Fall in User Figures Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt fall in traffic to popular pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Later data indicates this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by routing internet traffic through another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the platform to muting the user who posted it.

This survey was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Controls

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.

Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Introduce further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.