UK Adult Content Traffic Falls Following Age Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Traffic to adult content sites in the UK has seen a notable drop since the introduction of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the country's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has risen.
Sharp Fall in User Figures After Law Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate fall in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the most visited site in the UK. Data reveals that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the late July implementation date. Later analysis suggests this decline in site visits continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic blocks by masking internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the platform to muting the person who posted it.
This research was conducted prior to new rules took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Digital Controls
Campaigners for better control of adult content 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 performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the protections that have existed for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
