British Adult Content Traffic Falls After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, States Regulator

Traffic to adult content platforms in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly since the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications regulator. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to dodge these blocks has surged.

Immediate Fall in User Numbers Following Rule Enforcement

The introduction of age verification on 25 July led to an prompt fall in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

In total, visitor numbers to the 10 most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the end-of-July deadline. Later data suggests this decline in site visits persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—surged after 25 July.

Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from around 650,000 users before the verification were introduced. However, the regulator noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest figures at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.

Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the material to the site to blocking the person who shared it.

This survey was carried out before new regulations took effect that require platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.

Ministers Launch Review of Adult Content Laws

Separately, the government stated it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.

“The examination will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” said a justice minister.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Regulations

Campaigners for better control of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.

Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:

• Ban pornography where performers are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by site systems.
• Add additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.