British Adult Content Traffic Falls Following Identity Verifications, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Regulator

Traffic to pornography platforms in the UK has decreased markedly after the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Law Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt fall in traffic to leading pornography sites, including the top provider in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis suggests this downward trend in viewing continued past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks

In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic through another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures 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 Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the material to the platform to muting the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new rules came into force that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Announce Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Tighter Online Regulations

Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the digital age.