Traffic to adult content sites in the UK has fallen significantly since the roll-out of age-checking measures this summer, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Concurrently, the usage of tools designed to bypass these barriers has surged.
Immediate Drop in Visitor Figures Following Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an immediate reduction in visits to popular online adult platforms, including the most visited site in the UK. Data shows that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
In total, traffic to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent data shows this slump in site visits persisted beyond August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions
In response to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass geographic blocks by routing connections through another nation—surged after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Young People Responding to Harmful Material
In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Actions included reporting the material to the platform to muting the person who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Government Announce Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the government announced it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern online world.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a government official.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners 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 child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.
Suggested changes to legislation seek to:
- Ban pornography where adults are impersonating children, often recorded in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research suggests is often promoted by site algorithms.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Create a new, independent oversight agency to perform spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The advocates argue that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.
