UK Pornography Traffic Falls Following Identity Checks, Yet VPN Usage Spikes, States Regulator

Visitor numbers to pornography sites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the roll-out of age-checking measures earlier this year, as reported by the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the use of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has risen.

Sharp Drop in Visitor Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The introduction of age vetting on 25 July led to an immediate decline in traffic to leading online adult platforms, including the leading provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August stood at 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July implementation date. Later data shows this downward trend in viewing continued beyond August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks

Reacting to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent geographic restrictions by routing connections via another country—more than doubled after 25 July.

User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users before the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with current numbers standing at around 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.

Young People Taking Action to Damaging Online Content

Elsewhere, the watchdog's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering distressing content on the internet. Steps taken included reporting the material to the site to muting the user who shared it.

This research was conducted before new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that algorithms were showing inappropriate material.

Ministers Announce Examination of Pornography Legislation

In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is “fit for purpose” in the ever-developing online world.

“The review will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging portrayals of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Advocates Push For Tighter Online Controls

Campaigners for better regulation of online pornography have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful 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 creating an indecent image of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Apply stricter controls on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an offence to possess tools designed to create non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, separate regulatory body to conduct inspections on pornography sites and act on complaints of unlawful content.

The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for years offline finally are extended to the digital age.