British Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Age Checks, But VPN Use Surges, States Regulator
Access to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop after the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, according to the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has surged.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers After Law Enforcement
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the top site in the UK. Data indicates that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Later analysis shows this decline in viewing persisted past August.
Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Checks
In response to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based blocks by routing internet traffic via another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 people prior to the checks began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards fallen back, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the content to the site to blocking the person who posted it.
This survey was carried out before new rules took effect that compel social media companies to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The most common way young people came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Announce Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the government stated it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful performers dressed as children.
Proposed changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
