British Adult Content Traffic Falls After Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Use Spikes, States Regulator

Visitor numbers to adult content sites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications watchdog. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has increased.

Immediate Fall in User Figures Following Law Implementation

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift reduction in visits to major online adult platforms, including the top site in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.

Overall, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July implementation date. Subsequent analysis indicates this decline in viewing persisted past August.

Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by routing internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at more than 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 since steadily declined, with current numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use is “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.

Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included flagging the content to the site to muting the user who shared it.

This research was carried out before new regulations came into force that require platforms to stop children from accessing harmful content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way young people came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.

Government Announce Examination of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is effective in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.

Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations

Campaigners for better control of online pornography have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using young-looking adults portraying children.

Suggested amendments to government bills seek to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, often recorded in settings like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the crime of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
• Add additional restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create private images without permission.
• Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on reports of unlawful content.

The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.