British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Age Checks, But VPN Usage Spikes, Reports Regulator

Access to adult content platforms in the UK has seen a notable drop after the introduction of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. At the same time, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.

Sharp Fall in User Figures Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift reduction in traffic to leading 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 decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July implementation date. Subsequent data shows this downward trend in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by masking internet traffic through another country—more than doubled after 25 July.

Usage peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Young People Responding to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing harmful content online. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new rules took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating 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 acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.