47% Drop In P*rn Site Visits In UK After Age Verification Rules

The number of people in the UK visiting major pornography websites has fallen sharply since enhanced age verification rules were introduced, new data suggests.

According to analytics firm Similarweb, Pornhub lost over one million visitors in just two weeks.

The site, along with other leading adult platforms, introduced advanced age checks on 25 July following the Online Safety Act, which requires sites to make it harder for under-18s to access explicit material.

Similarweb compared daily average users from 1 to 9 August with figures for July. Pornhub, the UK’s most visited adult site, saw traffic drop 47% between 24 July and 8 August, falling from 3.2 million daily visits in July to 2 million in early August.

XVideos experienced a similar 47% decline, while OnlyFans traffic fell by over 10 percent.

Some smaller and less well regulated pornography sites saw an increase in visits. VPN apps also became the most downloaded in the UK shortly after the rules came into effect.

Since the new provisions came into force, web service providers have blocked access to content far beyond pornography, including news articles, Wikipedia entries, and even some online games.

Critics say the laws are causing mass censorship and raise concerns about privacy, while failing to fully protect children.

Media regulator Ofcom estimates 14 million people watch online pornography and recommends verification through credit cards, photo ID, or age estimation using selfies.

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