UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Traffic to pornography websites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to bypass these restrictions has risen.

Immediate Drop in User Figures After Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate fall in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Later analysis suggests this slump in viewing persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

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

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content on the internet. Actions included reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who shared it.

This survey was conducted prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Legislation

Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a government official.

Advocates Call For Tighter Online Regulations

Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed 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 controls on familial abuse pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.