New rules taking effect on Friday, November 6, make it a criminal offence to own or distribute several types of pornography, even if the material was previously legal. The ban is part of a government plan that Labour says is intended to protect women and girls.
The move follows the implementation of the Online Safety Act, which already restricts access to adult content online without ID verification. The new measures introduce outright bans on specific categories of pornography.
Full list of banned pornography
The types of pornography that become illegal from Friday are:
- Strangulation
- Suffocation
- Sexual activity between adult relatives
- Adults roleplaying as children under 16
Anyone found possessing pornography depicting suffocation or strangulation, or sex between relatives, faces up to two years in prison. Possessing or distributing pornography depicting a person pretending to be under 16 carries a maximum sentence of three years.
Government position on the ban
Labour's Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones said: "This government has a commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. For many people, it is still easy to access harmful pornography online."
She added: "From November 6, it will be illegal to possess or publish pornography showing strangulation or suffocation, sexual activity between certain relatives, or adults roleplaying as children under 16. This isn't about criminalising harmless sexual preferences. 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."
Cross-party support and review
Although Labour is implementing the law change, the new rules have gained cross-party support. Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin made the recommendations in her review into pornography laws in 2025. She said the news came "not a moment too soon", after previously saying strangulation in porn had become "normalised".
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."
