British Pornography Traffic Declines After Age Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Traffic to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly since the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these restrictions has increased.

Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in traffic to leading pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten top pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data indicates this slump in site visits persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by routing connections via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Young People Responding to Harmful Material

In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the content to the platform to muting the person who shared it.

This research was conducted prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.

Government Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Stricter Online Controls

Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

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