British Pornography Traffic Falls After Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Traffic to adult content sites in the UK has decreased markedly after the enforcement of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of specialist software designed to bypass these restrictions has risen.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate fall in traffic to popular online adult platforms, such as the leading site in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent analysis suggests this downward trend in site visits continued beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic through another country—surged following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated 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 sites.

Young People Responding to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering damaging content online. Actions included reporting the material to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.

This survey was carried out prior to new rules took effect that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

Separately, the government announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls

Campaigners for better control of online pornography have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.

Proposed changes to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.