British Adult Content Traffic Falls After Identity Verifications, But VPN Use Surges, States Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the UK has fallen significantly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has surged.

Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July deadline. Later analysis shows this decline in viewing persisted past August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by masking connections via another nation—surged following 25 July.

Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with current numbers at around 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the platform to muting the person who shared it.

This research was conducted before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.

Government Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the government stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Advocates Push For Tighter 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 appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.