British Adult Content Traffic Falls Following Identity Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Access to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has risen.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate decline in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis indicates this slump in viewing persisted beyond August.

Surge in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking connections through another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures standing at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.

Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content online. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the platform to muting the user who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations took effect that require platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.

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

Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Controls

Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults dressed as children.

Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Add further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.

The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.