UK Adult Content Traffic Declines After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Traffic to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these barriers has risen.

Sharp Fall in User Figures Following Law Implementation

The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an swift fall in visits to popular pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Later data indicates this downward trend in site visits persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by masking connections through another country—surged after 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.

Young People Responding to Damaging Material

In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Laws

Separately, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Tighter Online Controls

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults portraying children.

Suggested changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.

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