UK bans possession of harmful, incest porn

The United Kingdom has recently criminalised the possession and publication of certain harmful forms of pornography, including images depicting sexual strangulation, incest, and sexual activity involving people portrayed as under the age of 16. These new offences, introduced under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, carry penalties of up to five years in prison for publishing such material and up to two or three years for possession.

The provisions were introduced in response to concerns raised in Baroness Bertin’s Independent Pornography Review, which highlighted the potential influence of certain types of pornography on attitudes towards sexual relationships. The government believes that pornography depicting strangulation is increasingly common in real life, particularly among young people, and that incest-themed pornography can contribute to harmful attitudes, especially when it risks normalising child sexual abuse.

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