UK Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Use Surges, Reports Watchdog

Access to adult content websites in the UK has fallen significantly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications regulator. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to bypass these barriers has increased.

Sharp Fall in User Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt decline in traffic to leading pornography sites, including the top provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July implementation date. Subsequent analysis shows this decline in viewing persisted past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic blocks by masking connections through another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content on the internet. Actions included flagging the content to the platform to muting the user who shared it.

This research was carried out prior to new rules came into force that require social media companies to stop children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Government Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation

Separately, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Stricter Online Regulations

Campaigners for better 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 adults dressed as children.

Suggested changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of unlawful content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.