UK Pornography Site Visits Declines Following Identity Checks, Yet VPN Use Surges, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to dodge these blocks has surged.

Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures Following Rule Implementation

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt decline in traffic to popular pornography sites, including the most visited 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 same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent data shows this downward trend in site visits persisted beyond August.

Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can get around geographic restrictions by routing internet traffic via another country—surged after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current numbers at around 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult services.

Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the material to the site to blocking the person who shared it.

This research was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a platform timeline, indicating that algorithms were showing harmful material.

Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The examination will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations

Advocates for better regulation of online pornography have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking adults portraying children.

Proposed amendments to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of unlawful content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.