British Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Traffic to adult content websites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these barriers has increased.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers After Law Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate reduction in visits to leading pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

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

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Actions included flagging the material to the site to muting the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Government Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Controls

Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.

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