"there is often a drop in traffic for compliant sites"
UK visits to leading pornography sites have dropped sharply following the introduction of strict age checks in July 2025, new data shows.
Daily visits to Pornhub, the UK’s most-used porn site, fell from 3.6 million on 24 July to 1.9 million on 8 August, a 47% decline.
Traffic to XVideos and xHamster also dropped by 47% and 39% respectively during the same period, according to figures from digital market intelligence company Similarweb.
The data suggests the slump is linked to age-gating rules that came into effect on July 25 under the Online Safety Act.
However, major social media platforms that also implemented age checks for adult content, including X and Reddit, did not see a similar fall in traffic.
A Pornhub spokesperson said: “As we’ve seen in many jurisdictions around the world, there is often a drop in traffic for compliant sites and an increase in traffic for non-compliant sites.”
The Online Safety Act requires sites showing pornography to prevent under-18s from accessing it.
Ofcom, the UK watchdog enforcing the law, has approved several verification methods, including:
- Facial age estimation, using a live photo or video to estimate age.
- Credit card, bank or mobile provider checks to confirm age.
- Photo ID matching, where a passport or ID is checked against a selfie.
- Digital identity wallets containing proof of age.
The act also compels platforms to restrict harmful content, including material promoting suicide or self-harm, dangerous challenges, serious violence, or hate speech.
This has resulted in age-gating for content such as an alcohol recovery forum on Reddit and footage from an anti-migrant protest, prompting criticism that the law is already overreaching.
Ofcom insists the act protects free speech, pointing to provisions safeguarding expression.
Penalties for breaches range from formal warnings to fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global turnover. In severe cases, sites can be blocked in the UK.
The new rules have sparked political disputes.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party pledged to repeal the act following the rollout of age checks.
Technology secretary Peter Kyle accused Farage of siding with “people like Jimmy Savile”, while Farage called the remarks “so below the belt”.
The restrictions have also triggered a surge in downloads of virtual private networks (VPNs), which can bypass geographic restrictions.
VPN apps have frequently dominated the top five positions on Apple’s App Store in recent weeks.
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