UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines Following Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Use Surges, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these blocks has surged.

Sharp Drop in User Figures After Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an prompt decline in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July deadline. Later data indicates this decline in site visits continued beyond August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically 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 current numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Young People Responding to Harmful Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.

This research was carried out prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Laws

Separately, the government stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern digital age.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers portraying children.

Suggested changes to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.