Major porn site Pornhub loses 47% of traffic due to mandatory age verification in the UK, and XVideos and xHamster also see a sharp decline
It has been reported that the number of visitors to adult sites in the UK has dropped dramatically as a result of the Online Safety Act, which will be gradually implemented from 2023 and requires websites to verify their age.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Porn websites now require age verification in the UK – the privacy and security risks are numerous
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect : r/ukpolitics
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/1moii7a/uk_porn_site_traffic_plunges_as_age_verification/
In the UK, the Online Safety Act 2023 was enacted with the aim of protecting children online. As a result, from July 25, 2025, adult websites will be required to verify that users are adults by means of uploading ID documents, registering credit card information, or scanning their faces with a camera.
The Financial Times, a news site, reported that traffic to Pornhub, the largest pornographic site, fell by 47% in the two weeks from July 24, 2025, the day before the rules came into effect, citing data analysis service SimilarWeb .
Similarly, XVideos, another major porn site, saw a 47% decrease in traffic, while xHamster, the world's third-largest porn site, saw a 39% decrease in traffic. Pornhub commented, 'As we have seen in many countries and regions, it is common for law-abiding sites to see a decrease in traffic and for non-law-abiding sites to see an increase in traffic.' XVidoes and xHamster have not commented.
Age verification has also been introduced on X and Reddit, but there has been no decrease in traffic like there has been on adult sites.
By the way, there is a comment on Reddit that suggests that users are simply starting to use VPN services, saying, ' If 'access from the UK' has decreased, I wouldn't be surprised if traffic from around the world has increased .'
In the UK, age verification requirements for internet services have been introduced, and VPN service registrations have increased by 1400% - GIGAZINE
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in Web Service, Posted by logc_nt