UK Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Checks, But VPN Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog

Traffic to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has seen a notable drop since the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the adoption of specialist software designed to bypass these blocks has surged.

Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an prompt decline in traffic to major pornography sites, including the leading site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the ten top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a “lower level” than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later data suggests this decline in site visits persisted beyond August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can bypass geographic restrictions by masking internet traffic through another nation—increased dramatically following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Teenagers Taking Action to Harmful Online Content

In other findings, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Actions included flagging the content to the site to muting the person who posted it.

This research was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that require social media companies to stop children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Government Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation

In a related development, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Tighter Digital Controls

Campaigners for better control of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.

Suggested changes to legislation aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to include material where an adult acts the part of a child.
• Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to complaints of unlawful content.

The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the digital age.