British Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Checks, But VPN Use Spikes, States Watchdog

Access to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to dodge these barriers has surged.

Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers After Law Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt decline in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the late July deadline. Later data shows this downward trend in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by routing connections via another country—more than doubled after 25 July.

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to muting the person who posted it.

This research was conducted prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

Separately, the government stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern online world.

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls

Advocates for tighter control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.

Proposed amendments to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.