The UK government is banning pornography showing strangulation, suffocation and incestuous sexual activity in England and Wales from November 6. Under the new rules, people who publish or possess such material could face prison time, whether the content is shared online or stored on devices such as phones and computers or on cloud services. The ban will cover a range of content, including pornography showing adults pretending to be children under 16 and sexual activity between relatives or people pretending to be related. Certain content involving step-relatives or foster-relatives, where one person is portrayed as being under 18, will also be prohibited.
The punishment will depend on the offence and the type of content involved. People who upload, post or otherwise make prohibited material available online could face up to five years in prison. Possessing images depicting strangulation, suffocation or certain sexual acts between relatives could attract a sentence of up to two years. Possession of pornography involving someone pretending to be under 16 could lead to up to three years in prison.
The ban follows a review of pornography regulation led by Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin. The review found that depictions of choking were widespread on popular pornography websites and warned that repeated exposure could normalise dangerous behaviour among young people. It also cited the case of a 14-year-old boy who asked a teacher how to choke girls during sex. Baroness Bertin said the changes had come not a moment too soon, arguing that the law would send a clear message to pornography companies and society that extreme content encouraging real-world harm was unacceptable. While non-fatal strangulation without consent is already a criminal offence, depicting the act in pornography has not been illegal under existing rules.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones of the UK government said the move was not intended to criminalise harmless sexual preferences but to address content that could influence how people, particularly young viewers, understand relationships and consent. She urged people to delete prohibited material and stop sharing it, warning that possessing or distributing such content would become a criminal offence once the new rules take effect on November 6. The restrictions will apply in England and Wales, rather than automatically across the whole of the UK.