The United Kingdom will establish new criminal offences on 6 November 2026 prohibiting pornography that includes strangulation, suffocation, incestuous acts and sex with people pretending to be children under 16.
The UK government has approved the measures under the Crime and Policing Act 2026 which aims to tackle the potential for certain pornography to normalise harmful sexual activity and contribute to violence against women and girls.
The UK’s new laws will prohibit the possession and publication of qualifying material in England and Wales. It will be prohibited to upload or share such images or videos on any platform or distribute them in any form.
As the Ministry of Justice explained in a government guidance released on 16 October, the move follows cross-party concerns about the potential harm of such material and an independent review chaired by Baroness Gabby Bertin.
The legislation will criminalise possession of three categories of pornographic material. First, images or videos that include a realistic portrayal of one person strangling or suffocating another.
The law will apply to material where the people depicted would appear to be real. The second category is explicit sexual penetration between people who appear to be related or fake being related. This includes some stepfamily and foster family relationships where at least one person is under 18.
Third, the legislation will prohibit possession of images or videos of sexual activity with a person who is or appears to be under 16.
Offences will not apply to all fictional or stylised material. The proposed law includes a number of tests including that material must be pornographic and that the activity must be explicit and realistic. It must also be the case that a reasonable person looking at the material would believe the people depicted are real or that the situation portrayed meets the legal definition. The legislation will also include realistic images generated by AI that meet the criteria.
Under the new law, people could be prosecuted for possessing prohibited material even if they did not create it. In addition, sharing or uploading such material or distributing it in any form could be a crime.
The punishment for possessing an image or video of strangulation or suffocation or incestuous penetration will be a maximum of two years in prison. Possession of an image or video of sexual activity with someone who is or appears to be under 16 will carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
The government has asked anyone who possesses prohibited material to delete it before the law comes into force and that people remove any material that they have shared with others.
The UK government announced a consultation on the topic in February 2024, followed by an independent review of pornography chaired by Baroness Gabby Bertin which published its final report in February 2025. The review looked at concerns about the impact of material that depicted strangulation, incestuous relationships and sex between adults where one pretends to be a child.
The government has stated that the new offences will help to prohibit content that could normalise or legitimise harmful or illegal sexual activity and protect women and girls.
The new laws will come into force on 6 November 2026 in England and Wales and will apply in accordance with the Crime and Policing Act 2026. The exact meaning and scope of the new offences will depend on the circumstances of each case.