UK Pornography Site Visits Declines After Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, States Watchdog

Visitor numbers to pornography platforms in the United Kingdom has decreased markedly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. At the same time, the usage of tools designed to circumvent these restrictions has surged.

Sharp Fall in User Numbers Following Law Enforcement

The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an swift fall in visits to major online adult platforms, including the top provider in the UK. Data 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.

Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a markedly decreased volume than prior to the end-of-July implementation date. Later analysis shows this decline in site visits continued past August.

Surge in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Evade Restrictions

In response to the new rules, adoption of VPN software—which can circumvent location-based blocks by routing connections through another nation—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers peaked at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from around 650,000 people before the checks were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has afterwards steadily declined, with current figures standing at around 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 Material

In other findings, the watchdog's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the material to the site to muting the user who posted it.

This survey was conducted before new regulations came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to suicide and adult material. The primary way teenagers came across such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that recommendation systems were serving harmful material.

Ministers Launch Examination of Pornography Laws

In a related development, the government announced it would review the legislation governing pornography to consider whether it is effective in the modern online world.

“The review will look into the effectiveness of the current law in regarding criminalising, among other things, damaging portrayals of incest and any types of pornography which encourage the abuse of children,” said a government official.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Online Controls

Advocates for tighter control of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.

Suggested changes to government bills seek to:

• Ban pornography where adults are mimicking children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
• Introduce tighter regulation on familial abuse pornography, which studies suggests is heavily recommended by platform systems.
• Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
• Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct inspections on adult platforms and respond to reports of illegal content.

The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have been enforced for decades offline finally apply to the online sphere.