UK Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has increased.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate fall in traffic to major online adult platforms, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this decline in viewing continued past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking connections via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the verification began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Material

In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing distressing content on the internet. Actions included reporting the material to the site to blocking the user who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new rules took effect that compel platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.

“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Controls

Advocates for better control of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting young-looking performers dressed as children.

Proposed changes to legislation aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.