New criminal offences banning pornography that depicts strangulation, incest and adults role-playing as children under 16 will come into force in England and Wales on 6 November 2026, the government has confirmed. The changes follow a 2025 independent review into pornography regulation and carry maximum sentences of up to five years in prison for publishing the banned material.
The UK government has set a firm date for one of the most significant shake-ups of pornography law in years. From 6 November, it will be a criminal offence to possess or publish pornography depicting strangulation or suffocation, sexual activity between people who are related (or who a reasonable person would believe are related, including certain step and foster relationships), and role-play in which adults portray people under the age of 16.
What Exactly Is Being Banned
The new offences, introduced under the Crime and Policing Act, cover realistic depictions of the prohibited acts — including AI-generated images, where a reasonable person would believe the people shown are real.
The penalties scale depending on both the category of content and whether someone is found to have possessed it or published it:
- Publishing any of the banned material — including uploading or sharing it online — carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison.
- Possessing material showing adults role-playing as under-16s can lead to up to three years in prison.
- Possessing material depicting strangulation, suffocation, or certain incestuous acts can carry up to two years.
The laws apply specifically in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland may consider similar or related measures separately.
The Review Behind the Ban
The legislation stems directly from recommendations made by Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin, who led an independent review into pornography regulation that reported in 2025. Her review found that pornography depicting women being choked can carry “devastating” real-world consequences, and flagged what she described as “disturbing” role-play content, including incest-themed material and adults portraying children. The report also concluded there had been a “total absence of government scrutiny” of the pornography industry up to that point.
Non-fatal strangulation is already a criminal offence in its own right in England and Wales, but until now it has not been illegal to depict it in pornography — a gap the new law is specifically designed to close.
Ministers and Campaigners React
Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones defended the changes as targeted, not a blanket crackdown on sexual content. “This isn’t about criminalising harmless sexual preferences,” she said. “But porn can shape what people think a healthy relationship looks like, especially young people. Content that normalises, or even glorifies, violence against women is dangerous and can blur the line with what is acceptable in real life.”
Baroness Bertin welcomed the announcement that her recommendations would become law. “It is very good news these offences will come into force, and not a moment too soon,” she said. “This change in law alongside better enforcement and stronger regulation will send the unequivocal signal not only to the companies that host and facilitate porn but also to wider society that extreme and violent content that encourages real-life harm is not acceptable.”
Campaign groups also welcomed the move. Janaya Walker, interim director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, called it “an important step towards tackling the normalisation of violence against women and girls, and the result of years of campaigning by EVAW and other experts who have raised concerns about the impact of violent pornography.” Walker and other campaigners are now pressing the government to ensure the new offences are properly enforced once they take effect.
The Bigger Picture
The government has framed the new offences as part of a broader strategy to tackle violence against women and girls and to prevent the normalisation of harmful or illegal sexual behaviour online. The change arrives after sustained cross-party pressure throughout 2025 and 2026, with ministers repeatedly pointing to evidence that strangulation and other extreme content had become increasingly mainstream on major pornography platforms.
With just weeks remaining before the 6 November deadline, attention is now turning to how the new rules will actually be enforced — and whether online platforms hosting pornography will move quickly enough to bring their content in line with the law.
