UK Pornography Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Use Surges, States Regulator

Access to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications authority. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has risen.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate reduction in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Subsequent data suggests this decline in viewing persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by routing connections through another country—more than doubled after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material

In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the site to muting the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out before new rules came into force that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Announce Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Advocates Call For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for better control of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.

Suggested changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.