British Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Age Checks, But VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Access to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications regulator. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these blocks has increased.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in traffic to major pornography sites, including the leading provider in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, 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 analysis suggests this decline in viewing continued past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking connections via another country—surged after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the site to muting the person who posted it.

This research was carried out prior to new rules took effect that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Controls

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

Proposed changes to legislation aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often 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 incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites 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.