UK to ban porn depicting strangulation and incest from 6 November
Online pornography depicting strangulation, incest or a person posing as a child under 16 will be illegal in the UK from 6 November.
The UK government has set that date for the start of the ban, which makes it illegal both to possess and to publish the material. The Guardian
The strangulation category covers online pornography that depicts strangulation or suffocation. The incest category covers pornography depicting sex between people who are related, or who are pretending to be related. A separate category covers pornography in which somebody is pretending to be a child under 16.
Possessing and publishing pornography depicting adults pretending to be children is to be criminalised, according to earlier government guidance. GOV.UK The wider ban on possessing and publishing pornography depicting strangulation and incest was reported with the same 6 November start date. The Independent
The change follows an independent review of pornography regulation by Conservative peer Gabby Bertin, reported in 2025, which recommended making non-fatal strangulation and incest pornography illegal. Incest pornography was addressed in Recommendation 25 of that review. The review also called for a ban on other 'legal but harmful' material described as degrading, violent or misogynistic.
The legal basis sits within the Crime and Policing Act 2026, legislation that makes provision about anti-social behaviour, offensive weapons and offences against people including sexual offences. Legislation.gov.uk A Ministry of Justice equalities assessment describes the policy as "criminalisation of harmful pornographic content which depicts strangulation or illegal sexual conduct such as incest". The government has separately said depiction of strangulation in pornography will be designated as a priority offence under the Online Safety Act. GOV.UK
