UK Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Identity Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Watchdog

Access to adult content websites in the UK has fallen significantly after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an prompt fall in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the leading provider in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

In total, traffic to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Later data indicates this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by routing internet traffic through another nation—surged after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography services.

Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material

In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions included flagging the material to the platform to muting the person who shared it.

This research was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Laws

Separately, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Controls

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

Proposed changes to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.