UK Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the UK has decreased markedly since the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these blocks has increased.

Sharp Drop in User Figures Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an swift reduction in visits to leading pornography sites, including the leading provider in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten top pornography sites 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 persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Checks

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

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content online. Steps taken included flagging the material to the site to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation

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

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Advocates Call For Tighter Online Regulations

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

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software 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 steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.