British Adult Content Traffic Falls Following Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Access to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has risen.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Implementation

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to leading online adult platforms, including the top 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 from the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent data shows this downward trend in viewing persisted beyond August.

Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking connections through another country—surged following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content online. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out before new regulations took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Government Announce Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for better control of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.

Suggested changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.