British Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Traffic to pornography websites in the UK has fallen significantly since the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of tools designed to dodge these restrictions has surged.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift reduction in visits to popular pornography sites, including the top provider in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this slump in viewing continued past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass geographic restrictions by masking connections through another country—surged following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people before the checks began. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Young People Responding to Damaging Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the platform to muting the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter regulation of adult content have called on the government 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.

Proposed changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply 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 possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of unlawful content.

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