British Pornography Traffic Declines Following Identity Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Watchdog

Traffic to adult content platforms in the UK has decreased markedly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has risen.

Immediate Fall in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July caused an swift decline in visits to major pornography sites, such as the leading provider in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data shows this slump in site visits continued beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions

In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based blocks by masking internet traffic through another country—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator 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 user numbers for pornography sites.

Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing damaging content on the internet. Actions ranged from flagging the content to the site to blocking the person who posted it.

This survey was conducted prior to new rules took effect that require platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world.

“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Controls

Advocates for tighter regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.

Proposed changes to legislation seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Introduce further controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.