UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog

Traffic to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these blocks has increased.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an prompt reduction in traffic to leading online adult platforms, such as the leading site in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than before the late July deadline. Later data indicates this slump in site visits continued beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can bypass geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another nation—surged following 25 July.

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content online. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out before new regulations came into force that require social media companies to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Laws

Separately, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Controls

Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting youthful adults dressed as children.

Proposed changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years offline finally apply to the digital age.