British Adult Content Site Visits Falls Following Age Checks, Yet VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Access to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has risen.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an immediate decline in traffic to major online adult platforms, such as the top site in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis suggests this downward trend in viewing continued past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by routing connections via another country—surged following 25 July.

Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the verification began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult services.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content online. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.

This research was conducted prior to new rules came into force that compel platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the government stated it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of online pornography have called on the government 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 dressed as children.

Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.