Traffic to adult content sites in the United Kingdom has fallen significantly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, as reported by the nation's communications watchdog. At the same time, the use of specialist software designed to circumvent these barriers has risen.
Sharp Drop in User Figures After Law Implementation
The introduction of age vetting on 25 July caused an swift fall in visits to leading pornography sites, including the most visited provider in the UK. Figures indicates that user traffic to this site in August were 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the same period in 2024.
In total, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited adult services in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than prior to the late July deadline. Subsequent analysis indicates this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Sharp Increase in VPN Adoption to Bypass Checks
In response to the new rules, use of VPN software—which can get around location-based blocks by masking internet traffic via another nation—increased dramatically after 25 July.
User numbers peaked at over 1.4 million in the middle of August, up from around 650,000 users before the checks began. Subsequently, the watchdog noted that VPN usage has afterwards decreased, with latest numbers at around 900,000. It clarified that the level of daily VPN use remains “much lower” than user numbers for pornography sites.
Young People Responding to Damaging Material
Elsewhere, the regulator's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had taken action after encountering harmful content on the internet. Steps taken ranged from flagging the content to the site to blocking the user who posted it.
This survey was carried out prior to new regulations took effect that require platforms to stop children from accessing dangerous content, such as material related to self-harm and pornography. The most common way young people encountered such content was by looking through a social media timeline, indicating that algorithms were serving harmful material.
Ministers Launch Examination of Adult Content Laws
Separately, the government announced it would examine the legislation relating to pornography to consider whether it is adequate in the ever-developing online world.
“The examination will look into the effectiveness of the existing law in relation to criminalising, among other things, damaging depictions of familial abuse and any forms of pornography which promote child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Campaigners Call For Stricter Digital Regulations
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the government to outlaw so-called “barely legal” material. This encompasses content featuring incest scenes or that encourages child sexual abuse by using youthful adults portraying children.
Proposed changes to legislation seek to:
- Prohibit pornography where adults are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of making an exploitative portrayal of a child to include material where an older performer acts the part of a child.
- Apply tighter controls on incest-themed pornography, which studies indicates is often promoted by platform systems.
- Introduce further restrictions on “nudification” software, potentially making it an illegal act to possess tools designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, independent regulatory body to conduct spot checks on pornography sites and act on reports of unlawful content.
The campaigners contend that these measures would ensure the protections that have existed for years offline finally are extended to the online sphere.