British Pornography Site Visits Falls After Identity Checks, Yet VPN Use Spikes, Reports Regulator

Access to pornography websites in the UK has seen a notable drop after the enforcement of mandatory age verification earlier this year, according to the nation's communications authority. Simultaneously, the adoption of tools designed to dodge these barriers has risen.

Sharp Fall in Visitor Numbers After Rule Enforcement

The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift reduction in traffic to leading pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures reveals that visitor numbers to this platform in August reached 9.8 million, a drop of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.

In total, traffic 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. Subsequent data indicates this decline in viewing persisted beyond August.

Sharp Increase in VPN Usage to Bypass Restrictions

Reacting to the new regulations, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking internet traffic through another country—more than doubled following 25 July.

User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, up from around 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. However, the watchdog stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with current figures standing at approximately 900,000. It added that the volume of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for adult sites.

Young People Taking Action to Harmful Material

Elsewhere, the regulator's annual study found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after encountering harmful content online. Steps taken included reporting the material to the platform to muting the user who shared it.

This survey was conducted prior to new regulations took effect that compel platforms to prevent children from seeing harmful content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by scrolling through a platform timeline, suggesting that recommendation systems were showing inappropriate material.

Government Launch Review of Pornography Legislation

In a related development, the ministers announced it would examine the criminal law governing pornography to assess whether it is adequate in the ever-developing digital age.

“The review will investigate the efficacy of the existing law in regarding making illegal, among other things, damaging depictions of incest and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” said a government official.

Campaigners Push For Stricter Digital Controls

Campaigners for better regulation of adult content have called on the authorities to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by casting young-looking performers portraying children.

Suggested amendments to government bills aim to:

• Prohibit pornography where performers are impersonating children, sometimes filmed in environments like children’s bedrooms.
• Broaden the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult plays the role of a child.
• Introduce stricter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is heavily recommended by site algorithms.
• Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
• Establish a new, independent oversight agency to perform inspections on pornography sites and respond to complaints of illegal content.

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