UK Adult Content Traffic Declines Following Identity Verifications, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, States Regulator
Traffic to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these barriers has risen.
Sharp Fall in Visitor Figures Following Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift decline in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the leading site in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic 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 most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the late July implementation date. Later data suggests this downward trend in site visits continued past August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, use of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic via another nation—surged following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 people prior to the checks were introduced. Subsequently, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with current numbers standing at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.
Young People Taking Action to Harmful Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's annual study revealed that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.
This research was conducted prior to new rules took effect that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and pornography. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing harmful material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the government stated it would review the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the modern online world.
“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in relation to making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a justice minister.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have urged the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that encourages abuse by using young-looking adults dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply stricter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, separate oversight agency to conduct inspections on adult platforms and act on complaints of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for decades offline finally are extended to the digital age.
