UK Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Age Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Surges, States Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the usage of tools designed to bypass these blocks has risen.

Immediate Drop in User Numbers After Law Implementation

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate decline in visits to popular pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later data indicates this decline in viewing continued past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by routing connections through another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions included reporting the material to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Government Announce Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

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

Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of adult content have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by casting young-looking adults dressed as children.

Proposed changes to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.