UK Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Figures After Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate decline in visits to major pornography sites, including the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data shows this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by routing internet traffic through another country—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions included flagging the content to the site to muting the person who posted it.

This research was carried out prior to new rules took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Call For Tighter Online Controls

Campaigners for tighter regulation of online pornography have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.

Suggested changes to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking 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.
• Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.