British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Identity Checks, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Regulator

Access to pornography sites in the UK has decreased markedly after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Fall in User Figures After Rule Implementation

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate decline in traffic to major online adult platforms, including the most visited provider in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this decline in site visits continued beyond August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by masking internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the site to muting the person who shared it.

This research was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing 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 feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Government Launch Review of Pornography Laws

Separately, the government stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.

Proposed amendments to legislation aim to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Introduce further restrictions 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 perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the digital age.