UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Surges, States Regulator

Access to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has surged.

Sharp Fall in User Figures Following Law Implementation

The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an immediate reduction in traffic to major pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis shows this downward trend in viewing persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Checks

In response to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic through another nation—surged after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the site to blocking the user who shared it.

This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that require platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Stricter Digital Controls

Campaigners for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.

Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.