UK Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Visitor numbers to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has risen.

Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate decline in visits to popular online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this decline in site visits persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by masking connections via another country—surged after 25 July.

Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.

Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Ministers Announce Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Tighter Online Regulations

Campaigners for better control of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults dressed as children.

Suggested changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.