Pornhub has reportedly claimed that UK traffic on its website has fallen by up to 77 per cent in the UK compared to July following the introduction of stricter age verification requirements on adult websites under the Online Safety Act (OSA).
The porn platform said that it suspects that websites that do not comply with the new rules are taking advantage of this situation, the BBC reported.
The broadcaster added that it had compared Pornhub’s data with Google’s, which showed that searches related to the site had fallen by almost half since the law came into force.
Under the new rules, those accessing adult websites in the UK now need to verify they are over 18, including through methods such as facial recognition.
The decline in numbers is not necessarily a sign that people have stopped searching for or visiting these websites.
Many people may instead be visiting these websites using a virtual private network (VPN), a service that increases privacy and encrypts personal data and routes online traffic through a remote server owned by the VPN provider.
In July, Proton VPN, a Swiss-based provider, reported a more than 1,400 per cent increase in UK signups within hours of the Act coming into force on 25 July 2025.
The company stated, “We would normally associate these large spikes in sign-ups with major civil unrest. This clearly shows that adults are concerned about the impact universal age verification laws will have on their privacy.”
Other providers, such as Nord, also saw a 1,000 per cent increase in UK purchases of VPN subscriptions.
The OSA, which received Royal Assent in October 2023, introduces mandatory age verification for accessing pornography and other content deemed harmful to children.
Social media platforms including X, Reddit and TikTok have implemented age checks, with users now required to upload identification or undergo facial recognition to access restricted material.
Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, has begun enforcement, with companies facing fines of up to £18 million or 10 per cent of global turnover for non-compliance.
In July, Google Trends data showed that searches for VPNs in the UK increased by up to tenfold at peak times over the weekend following the law’s implementation.
Pornhub, the most visited adult website in the UK according to Similarweb, has in recent months faced international scrutiny over its safety measures.
In May, the European Commission launched an investigation into the platform and others regarding child safety concerns.
In June, Pornhub ceased operations in France in response to a new law requiring more stringent age verification for users accessing adult content online.
At the time, Alex Kekesi, the company’s vice-president of brand and community, criticised the French government’s insistence on site-based age verification, describing the system as “ineffective, invasive and a threat to users’ privacy”.
