British Adult Content Traffic Falls After Age Checks, But VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Access to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to dodge these barriers has risen.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures After Rule Implementation

The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an swift reduction in visits to leading pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits continued past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Checks

In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—surged following 25 July.

Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people before the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the site to muting the user who shared it.

This survey was conducted prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Review of Pornography Legislation

In a related development, the government announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations

Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers dressed as 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 creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.