UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Identity Verifications, But VPN Usage Surges, States Regulator

Access to adult content sites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has surged.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift fall in visits to popular pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this slump in site visits continued past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by routing internet traffic through another nation—surged following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Actions ranged from flagging the material to the platform to muting the user who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that require platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Ministers Announce Review of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the government announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern online world.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Advocates Push For Tighter Digital Controls

Campaigners for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.

Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.