Technology and Scienceupdated 1h ago2 min read
UK Bans Porn Depicting Strangulation, Incest, And Adult Pretending To Be Under 16
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From 6 November, possession or publication of porn depicting strangulation or suffocation will be banned. Includes incestuous relationships and adults pretending to be under 16.
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UK bans extreme porn
The UK government announced a ban on pornography depicting strangulation and incestuous relationships, and on pornography where someone is pretending to be a child under 16, with the measures taking force on 6 November. Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said the government has a commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and she argued that “for many people, it is still easy to access harmful pornography online”. Baroness Gabby Bertin said the announcement comes “not a moment too soon”, after her 2025 review into pornography regulation found pornography which shows women being choked can have “devastating” real-world consequences.
The new rules mean pornography that depicts strangulation or suffocation, sex between people who are related or pretending to be related, or when somebody is pretending to be a child under 16 will be illegal. From 6 November, it will be illegal to possess or publish porn which shows strangulation or suffocation, depicts sexual activity between people who are related, or shows adults role-playing as children under 16.
Penalties and enforcement
The new offences each carry a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment for publication, and it described how publication could include uploading, posting or otherwise making the content available to someone online. Possession could include keeping an image stored on a phone, computer or in cloud storage, and someone found to be in possession of images depicting sexual activity involving a person pretending to be under 16 could face up to three years' imprisonment after 6 November. Those found to be in possession of images depicting strangulation, suffocation or penetrative sexual activity between certain relatives could face up to two years' imprisonment.
Durham University law professor Clare McGlynn welcomed the laws taking full effect, and she told the BBC that “This is a potential turning point”. McGlynn also warned that questions remained over how swiftly tech platforms and regulators would act to remove and mitigate the spread of violating material, even as she said the change was “not about prosecuting individuals”.
Debate over impact
The new rules follow a review in 2025 which found depictions of choking were “rife” on popular porn sites and had helped normalise the act among young people. Baroness Gabby Bertin told the Press Association that the change in law would “send the unequivocal signal” to companies that host and facilitate porn, and also to wider society, that “extreme and violent content that encourages real-life harm is not acceptable”. Her independent review cited an account of a 14-year-old boy asking a teacher how to choke girls during sex, and it warned that people imitating such behaviour “may face devastating consequences”.
Non-fatal strangulation is already an offence if someone does not consent, but its depiction online is currently not illegal, and it described amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill that became law in April. McGlynn said the commencement of the laws marked “a line in the sand” when the UK decided it was “no longer going to accept the normalisation of sexually violent content in pornography”.