British Pornography Site Visits Declines After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the introduction of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.

Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an immediate fall in visits to popular pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Data reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July implementation date. Later analysis indicates this decline in site visits continued past August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Evade Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking internet traffic through another nation—surged following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material

In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Steps taken included reporting the content to the platform to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was carried out before new rules took effect that require platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation

Separately, the ministers stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing digital age.

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

Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Regulations

Advocates for tighter control of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.

Proposed amendments to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform algorithms.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.