UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Age Checks, But VPN Use Surges, Reports Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content websites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the adoption of tools designed to bypass these barriers has risen.

Sharp Fall in User Figures Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an swift fall in visits to popular online adult platforms, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July implementation date. Later data shows this decline in site visits continued past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Checks

In response to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing connections via another country—more than doubled after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current figures at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the platform to muting the user who posted it.

This survey was conducted prior to new rules took effect that require social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Launch Review of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the ministers stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Controls

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

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by site systems.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.