UK to ban pornography depicting strangulation and incest from November 6

The UK government has announced that online pornography depicting strangulation, suffocation, incestuous relationships, or adults pretending to be children under 16 will be illegal from 6 November. The new rules follow cross-party pressure and recommendations from a 2025 review into pornography regulation.

Scope of the Ban

From 6 November, it will be illegal to possess or publish pornography that shows strangulation or suffocation, sexual activity between people who are related or pretending to be related, or adults role-playing as children under 16. The ban also captures porn that shows or depicts sex between step or foster-relations where one person is pretending to be under 18.

Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones stated that the legislation is not intended to criminalize harmless sexual preferences. "But porn can shape what people think a healthy relationship looks like, especially young people," Davies-Jones said. "Content that normalises, or even glorifies, violence against women is dangerous and can blur the line with what is acceptable in real life."

Davies-Jones added a direct warning to the public: "If you’ve got this material, delete it. If you’re sharing it, stop. It’s not as harmless as you may think, and after 6 November it is criminal."

Penalties and Enforcement

The new offences carry specific maximum penalties. According to the government, publication of such content, which includes uploading, posting, or otherwise making it available online, carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.

Possession, which can include keeping an image stored on a phone, computer, or in cloud storage, carries different penalties depending on the content:

• Possession of images depicting sexual activity involving a person pretending to be under 16 could result in up to three years' imprisonment.
• Possession of images depicting strangulation, suffocation, or penetrative sexual activity between certain relatives could result in up to two years' imprisonment.

Non-fatal strangulation is already an offence in its own right if consent is absent, but its depiction online has not been illegal until now. The amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, which became law in April, sought to ensure such content would be captured by the legislation in England and Wales.

Background and Recommendations

The changes correspond to recommendations from a review of pornography regulation published in February 2025 by Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin. Her independent review, commissioned by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government, found that depictions of choking were "rife" on popular porn sites and had helped normalise the act among young people.

The report highlighted "disturbing" role-play, including incest and adults portraying children, and noted a "total absence of government scrutiny" of the pornography industry. It cited an account of a 14-year-old boy asking a teacher how to choke girls during sex and warned that people imitating such behaviour "may face devastating consequences."

Baroness Bertin welcomed the announcement, stating it came "not a moment too soon." She said the change in law would "send the unequivocal signal" to companies that host and facilitate porn, and to wider society, that "extreme and violent content that encourages real-life harm is not acceptable."

Why it matters

The ban represents a significant shift in UK law regarding online content and sexual violence. Clare McGlynn, a law professor at Durham University, described the commencement of the laws as "a potential turning point" and "a line in the sand" where the UK decided it was "no longer going to accept the normalisation of sexually violent content in pornography."

However, McGlynn warned that questions remain over how swiftly tech platforms and regulators will act to remove and mitigate the spread of violating material. "While these are criminal offences, this is not about prosecuting individuals, but transforming the online pornographic landscape and that requires the platforms and regulator to act," she told the BBC.

The End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) welcomed the ban but urged ministers to ensure it is enforced. Interim director Janaya Walker said the move is "an important step towards tackling the normalisation of violence against women and girls." Walker emphasized that strangulation can cause "serious, lasting harm and even death," and called for the Online Safety Act to be updated so that online platforms are required to remove this content.

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Sources

• theguardian.com: Pornography showing strangulation and incest to be banned in UK from early November | Pornography | The Guardian
• newscord.org: UK Bans Porn Depicting Strangulation, Incest, And Adult Pretending To Be Under 16: 5 outlets compared | NewsCord
• ua.news: UK to ban porn depicting strangulation and incest from November 6 | UA.NEWS
• lbc.co.uk: Ban on strangulation and incest in porn to come into force in November | LBC
• bbc.com: Porn showing choking or incest to be banned from early November, government says
• echo-news.co.uk: Ban on strangulation and incest in porn to come into force in November | Echo

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.