British Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, Yet VPN Usage Surges, Reports Regulator
Traffic to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the enforcement of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to dodge these barriers has increased.
Immediate Fall in User Figures After Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an swift decline in visits to leading pornography sites, such as the leading site in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten top adult services in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than before the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this slump in site visits continued past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users prior to the verification began. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content online. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the site to blocking the user who shared it.
This research was carried out before new rules came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by looking through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws
In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding making illegal, among other things, harmful portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Tighter Online Controls
Campaigners for tighter control of online pornography have urged the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using young-looking performers dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which research suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
- Introduce further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.
