Pornhub Reports 77% Drop in UK Visitors Following Age Verification Implementation
By
vinni2
7mo ago· 8 min readenNews
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Summary
Pornhub reports a 77% decrease in UK visitors since July 2025 when stricter age verification requirements under the Online Safety Act were implemented. The adult site claims that competitors ignoring the new regulations are benefiting from the traffic shift, though the BBC notes it cannot independently verify these claims. Google search data shows a nearly 50% drop in searches for Pornhub in the UK. The company suggests users may be turning to riskier, unregulated sites or using VPNs to bypass restrictions, raising concerns about the effectiveness and unintended consequences of the age verification measures.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledPornhub says the number of UK visitors to its website is down 77% compared with July, when more rigorous age checks for sexually explicit sites were introduced under the Online Safety Act.
It claims sites that are ignoring the new requirements are benefiting.
The BBC has not been able to independently verify Pornhub's claim - however, data from Google shows searches for the site have decreased by almost half since the changes.
The site tells BBC News it believes people are viewing riskier sites - but they may just be using VPNs.
The site tells BBC News it believes people are viewing riskier sites - but they may just be using VPNs.
