Age checks in the UK result in a 77% decrease in visits to adult sites – but does this mean age verification works?

A well-known adult site has said that visits from the UK have decreased by 77%, when compared to July, 2025, following the introduction of age verification laws.

Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, recorded the stats using traffic data to Pornhub but also reported that visits to sites hosting adult content in general have reduced by a third since July 25 – the day the Online Safety Act (OSA) came into effect.

The OSA requires all sites that host adult content, or other content that could be harmful to minors, to have “robust” age verification techniques.

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It’s also a good example of what we might see as states such as Arizona, Michigan and Ohio embark on their own age verification check laws and systems.

Opinions on age verification within the UK were split, with some championing it as a key law for online safety, while others have pointed out the OSA’s risks to data safety.

Do these stats mean age verification works?

Ofcom has praised the OSA following its introduction, telling the BBC that it has “end[ed] the era of an age-blind internet, when many sites and apps have undertaken no meaningful checks to see if children were using their services.”

However, while it could be true that 77% of the adult site’s visitors were minors, and one third of the UK’s viewers of adult sites in general were under 18, it’s equally possible that these statistics say more about UK citizens’ willingness to get around these age verification laws.

A steep rise in the searches for VPNs in the UK would certainly suggest the latter.

(Image credit: Witthaya Prasongsin / Getty Images)

Given that a VPN can be used to change your apparent location, VPN users, within the UK, browsing adult websites, would not have been included in Ofcom’s figures.

As with most either/or cases, though, it’s highly likely that the answer is both, with some claiming a victory at Ofcom’s findings.

One commenter on a BBC article about the findings said: “The whole point of the exercise was to prevent children accidentally seeing [explicit material] whilst searching for other topics, especially through double-meanings. That appears to be working. “

With a host of dubious VPNs rocketing to the top of the UK App Store at the same time as the introduction of the OSA, however, it’s key to remember to stay sage when choosing a VPN.

Always choose a brands you recognise, whether it’s a free VPN or a paid VPN, such as Proton VPN or NordVPN or any of our best VPN choices. Your data, your identity and your money is likely to be at risk otherwise.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.