British Adult Content Traffic Falls Following Age Verifications, But Virtual Private Network Use Surges, Reports Regulator
Access to adult content websites in the UK has decreased markedly since the introduction of age-checking measures earlier this year, according to the country's communications authority. Simultaneously, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these barriers has surged.
Immediate Drop in User Numbers Following Rule Implementation
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an prompt reduction in traffic to popular online adult platforms, including the top site in the UK. Figures shows that user traffic to this site in August stood at 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now stabilized at a significantly reduced level than prior to the late July implementation date. Later data suggests this slump in viewing persisted past August.
Sharp Increase in Virtual Private Network Usage to Bypass Restrictions
Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can bypass location-based blocks by masking connections via another country—increased dramatically following 25 July.
Usage peaked at more than 1.4 million in the middle of August, rising from approximately 650,000 users before the checks began. However, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than traffic for adult sites.
Young People Taking Action to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering damaging content online. Actions included flagging the content to the platform to muting the user who posted it.
This research was conducted prior to new rules came into force that compel social media companies to prevent children from accessing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The primary way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a social media timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were serving inappropriate material.
Government Announce Review of Adult Content Legislation
In a related development, the government announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to assess whether it is effective in the modern online world.
“The review will investigate the efficacy of the current law in relation to criminalising, for example, harmful depictions of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a government official.
Advocates Push For Tighter Online Regulations
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring simulated familial abuse or that appears to promote abuse by using youthful adults dressed as children.
Proposed amendments to government bills aim to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an adult plays the role of a child.
- Apply tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
- Add further controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to generate private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on complaints of illegal content.
The campaigners argue that these measures would ensure the safeguards that have existed for years in the physical world finally apply to the online sphere.
