Online pornography depicting strangulation or incestuous relationships will be banned from early November, the government has announced.
From 6 November, it will be illegal to possess or publish porn which shows strangulation or suffocation, depicts sexual activity between people who are related or shows adults role-playing as children under 16 in England and Wales.
The new rules follow a review into porn regulation in 2025 which found depictions of choking were “rife” on popular porn sites and had helped normalise the act among young people.
Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin, who headed the review, said the news came “not a moment too soon”.
She told the Press Association the change in law would “send the unequivocal signal” to companies that host and facilitate porn, and also to wider society, that “extreme and violent content that encourages real-life harm is not acceptable”.
Her independent review, commissioned by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, cited an account of a 14-year-old boy asking a teacher how to choke girls during sex.
It warned that people imitating such behaviour “may face devastating consequences”.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday, Baroness Bertin said porn showing strangulation had “absolutely sort of normalised this kind of sexual violence”.
“That has to come to an end and I hope this law change will be the beginning of that,” she said – adding that it aimed to “marry up” differences in the law about what was acceptable online and offline.
Non-fatal strangulation is already an offence if someone does not consent, but its depiction online is currently not illegal.
Amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, which became law in April, sought to ensure such content would be captured by the legislation and made criminal offences in England and Wales.
Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said it was not about “criminalising harmless sexual preferences”.
But she said “porn can shape what people think a healthy relationship looks like, especially young people”. Content which “normalises, or even glorifies” violence against women can “blur the line with what is acceptable in real life”, she said.
“If you’ve got this material, delete it. If you’re sharing it, stop,” Davies-Jones added.
“It’s not as harmless as you may think, and after 6 November, it is criminal.”
