British Adult Content Site Visits Falls After Age Checks, Yet Virtual Private Network Usage Spikes, Reports Watchdog
Access to adult content platforms in the UK has decreased markedly since the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the country's communications authority. At the same time, the adoption of tools designed to circumvent these blocks has risen.
Immediate Fall in User Numbers After Law Implementation
The enforcement of age verification on 25 July caused an immediate reduction in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the most visited site in the UK. Figures reveals that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, traffic to the 10 top adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a markedly decreased volume than before the end-of-July deadline. Subsequent data shows this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Adoption to Bypass Checks
Reacting to the new rules, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around geographic blocks by routing connections via another country—increased dramatically after 25 July.
Usage reached a high at more than 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people prior to the verification began. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for pornography sites.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Material
In other findings, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after seeing damaging content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from reporting the material to the platform to blocking the person who shared it.
This survey was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that require social media companies to prevent children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to suicide and adult material. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Government Launch Review of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the ministers announced it would review the criminal law governing pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the modern digital age.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.
Advocates Call For Tighter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for tighter control of adult content have called on the authorities to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring simulated familial abuse or that encourages child sexual abuse by casting youthful performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where performers are mimicking 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 older performer plays the role of a child.
- Introduce tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which research indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce additional restrictions on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to generate non-consensual nude images.
- Establish a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and act on complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally are extended to the online sphere.
