Overview
- The regulator says enforcement of age verification from 25 July produced an immediate fall in visits to major porn sites, with traffic to the top 10 services settling at a lower level since then.
- Similarweb data shared with The Guardian indicates the decline continued into November, with Pornhub at 7.2 million unique UK visitors that month and further falls reported for Xvideos and Chaturbate.
- Daily VPN usage more than doubled after enforcement, peaking above 1.4 million in mid‑August before easing to roughly 900,000 by November, according to Ofcom.
- Compliance is widening beyond adult sites, with the AVPA citing around five million age checks completed daily and Ofcom reporting 7.8 million UK visitors on services that have rolled out checks, as platforms such as Substack and major dating apps announce UK age‑verification plans.
- The government has launched a review of criminal law on pornography, while peers and campaigners propose tightening rules to cover incest‑themed material, adults mimicking minors, and non‑consensual ‘nudification’ tools.