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

Traffic to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the usage of specialist software designed to dodge these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Drop in User Numbers Following Law Implementation

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in visits to popular online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this downward trend in site visits persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around location-based restrictions by routing connections through another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the verification began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Young People Responding to Harmful Material

In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the platform to blocking the user who posted it.

This research was carried out before new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.

Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Tighter Digital Controls

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

Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.