UK Adult Content Site Visits Declines After Identity Verifications, But VPN Use Surges, States Watchdog
Traffic to adult content websites in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications regulator. Concurrently, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these barriers has risen.
Sharp Fall in User Numbers After Rule Enforcement
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July led to an swift decline in visits to leading online adult platforms, such as the top site in the UK. Figures indicates that visitor numbers to this platform in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared to the same period in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July deadline. Subsequent data shows this slump in viewing persisted past August.
Surge in VPN Adoption to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based restrictions by routing internet traffic via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from approximately 650,000 users prior to the verification began. However, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since decreased, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It clarified that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Harmful Material
Elsewhere, the regulator's report revealed that about 60% of young people aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content on the internet. Actions ranged from reporting the content to the site to muting the person who shared it.
This survey was carried out prior to new regulations came into force that require platforms to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media feed, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Ministers Announce Examination of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The examination will investigate the effectiveness of the existing law in regarding making illegal, for example, harmful portrayals of incest and any forms of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” stated a government official.
Advocates Push For Tighter Online Regulations
Advocates for better control of adult content have urged the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers dressed as children.
Suggested amendments to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Broaden the crime of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess software designed to create non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to perform spot checks on pornography sites and respond to reports of illegal content.
The advocates contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
