British Adult Content Traffic Declines After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Regulator
Access to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the adoption of specialist software designed to circumvent these restrictions has risen.
Sharp Fall in User Figures After Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift reduction in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Figures shows that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent data indicates this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks
In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around geographic blocks by routing internet traffic through another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with latest figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult services.
Teenagers Taking Action to Damaging Material
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content on the internet. Actions included 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 platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing harmful material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Laws
Separately, the government stated it would examine the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations
Advocates for better control of adult content have urged the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.
Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, independent oversight agency to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.
