The key facts

  • From 6 November 2026, possessing and publishing pornography depicting strangulation, incest or the portrayal of minors will become offences in England and Wales.
  • The maximum penalty for publication is five years' imprisonment; for possession, up to three years (underage roleplay) or up to two years (strangulation, incest).
  • The changes are based on the 2025 review by Baroness Gabby Bertin, commissioned by Rishi Sunak's government, which described strangulation scenes as 'rife' on popular sites.

New bans take effect on 6 November

The UK government has announced that from 6 November 2026 it will become illegal in England and Wales to possess or publish pornography depicting strangulation or choking, sexual contact between relatives, or adults playing the role of children under 16. The new offences also cover pornography involving step- or adoptive relatives where one participant portrays a person under 18. The changes were made through amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, which became law in April, to ensure such content is definitively covered.

Penalties

Each of the new publication offences carries a maximum penalty of up to five years' imprisonment. According to the government, publication may include uploading, posting or otherwise making content available online, while possession includes saving an image on a phone, computer or cloud storage. Possessing material depicting a person pretending to be under 16 carries up to three years' imprisonment; possessing material depicting strangulation, choking or penetrative sexual acts between certain relatives carries up to two years.

Origin of the reform

The new rules follow the 2025 review of pornography regulation, commissioned by the government of former prime minister Rishi Sunak and led by the Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin. The review found that strangulation scenes are 'rife' on popular porn sites and contributed to the normalisation of the practice among young people; it cited a case in which a 14-year-old boy asked a teacher how to choke girls during sex, and warned that imitating such behaviour 'can have devastating consequences'. Bertin called the ban coming into force 'not before time' and said the change in the law 'sends an unambiguous signal' to companies hosting and facilitating the distribution of pornography, and to society at large, that 'extreme and cruel content that encourages harm in real life is unacceptable'. It is noted that non-penetrative strangulation without consent is already an offence, but its depiction online has until now not been illegal.

Government position and expert reaction

Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said the measures are not aimed at 'criminalising harmless sexual preferences', but stressed that 'pornography can shape people's, especially young people's, ideas of what healthy relationships look like', and content that 'normalises or even glorifies' violence against women can 'blur the line with what is acceptable in real life'. She urged: 'If you have such material — delete it. If you share it — stop. It is not as harmless as you may think, and after 6 November it is a criminal offence.' Durham University law professor Clare McGlynn, who previously warned about the normalisation of sexual violence by widely accessible extreme content, welcomed the law coming fully into force, calling it 'a potential turning point' and 'a line in the sand'. At the same time, she noted that questions remain about how quickly technology platforms and regulators will act to remove and curb the spread of such material: 'While these are criminal offences, it is not about prosecuting individuals but about transforming the online pornography landscape, which requires action from platforms and the regulator.'

Hands close-up typing on a laptop keyboard in a blue lightImage source, Photothek
A green promotional banner with black squares and rectangles forming pixels, moving in from the right. The text says: “Tech Decoded: The world’s biggest tech news in your inbox every Monday.”
Head and shoulders shot of Tony Lenehan KC, who has short greying hair and a large busy beard. He is wearing a black suit jacket, blue shirt and purple tie. Girl with dark hair has her head hidden in her arms wrapped round her knees sitting on the floor in front of a blue sofa and house plant.A bird eye view of a laptop in a dark room, with light coming from the screen. A hand hovers above the top of the laptop.