British Pornography Site Visits Declines After Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Access to adult content sites in the UK has fallen significantly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has risen.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt decline in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the leading site in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this decline in viewing continued past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking connections through another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the platform to muting the person who shared it.

This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Examination of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Campaigners Call For Tighter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.

Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.