British Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Identity Checks, But VPN Usage Surges, Reports Watchdog
Access to pornography platforms in the UK has fallen significantly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has risen.
Sharp Fall in User Numbers Following Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July resulted in an swift decline in visits to popular pornography sites, such as the most visited provider 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.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent data suggests this slump in site visits persisted beyond August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Bypass Checks
In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can bypass location-based restrictions by masking connections via another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people before the checks began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Young People Responding to Damaging Online Content
In other findings, the regulator's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content online. Actions included flagging the content to the platform to blocking the user who shared it.
This survey was conducted prior to new regulations came into force that compel platforms to stop children from seeing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Government Launch Examination of Pornography Legislation
In a related development, the ministers stated it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The review will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.
Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.
Suggested changes to government bills seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the crime of creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by platform algorithms.
- Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the protections that have been enforced for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.