UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines Following Age Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Traffic to adult content sites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to bypass these barriers has risen.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Numbers After Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an prompt reduction in traffic to major pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

In total, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis shows this decline in viewing persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions

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

Usage reached a high at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since steadily declined, with latest figures at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the platform to muting the person who shared it.

This research was carried out before new regulations took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers 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 effective in the ever-developing online world.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, harmful depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Controls

Advocates for tighter control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.

Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally apply to the online sphere.