UK Pornography Traffic Declines After Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Access to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.

Sharp Drop in User Figures Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate fall in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the top site in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Later analysis suggests this decline in site visits persisted past August.

Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the material to the site to blocking the user who shared it.

This survey was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that compel platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the ministers stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Controls

Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.