The Crime and Policing Act 2026 introduces new provisions coming into force on 6 November 2026 relating to online pornography.
There are three main areas which will be covered by the new provisions:
- Incest pornography, including roleplay and certain step and foster relationships;
- Adults role-playing as children;
- Choking (strangulation and suffocation).
It will be illegal to possess or publish pornographic images that explicitly and realistically depict any of the above 3 categories. This will include still images (photographs) and moving images (videos).
The offences require the people depicted to appear real to a reasonable person.
Is incest porn illegal, including roleplay?
Sex between certain close relatives is already illegal. From 6 November 2026, possessing or sharing incest porn will also be an offence, including scenes where unrelated adult performers are pretending to be family members.
This includes depictions of close familial relatives, such as father and daughter or brother and sister, and certain step and foster relationships where one person is, or is pretending to be, under 18.
The legislation also covers relations with step-parents and certain foster parents.
The offence covers explicit and realistic depictions of penetrative sexual activity. For step and foster relationships, such as a step-parent and step-child, at least one person must be, or be pretending to be, under 18. Pornography depicting such activity between close family members, or people pretending to be close family members, such as parent and child or brother and sister, is covered regardless of age.
The punishment for possession of such material is imprisonment of up to 2 years, whereas publication of such material is punished with a maximum of 5 years’ imprisonment.
Is porn featuring adults roleplaying as children illegal?
Pornographic material depicting adults roleplaying as children will also be criminalised as of November 2026. This includes sexual activity between at least 2 people where a reasonable person would think at least one person is, or is pretending to be, under 16.
The new section 67H(3) of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 expressly provides:
“A person is not to be taken as pretending to be under 16 if it is fanciful that they are actually under 16 in the way pretended.”
The punishment for possession of such material is imprisonment of up to 3 years, whereas publication of such material is punished with a maximum of 5 years’ imprisonment.
Is strangulation or choking porn illegal?
Possession or publication of pornography portraying strangulation or suffocation, in an explicit and realistic way, will become a criminal offence as of November 2026. This is aimed at adult pornography. At the time of writing this article, such material is still readily available on main websites such as Pornhub. Removing this material from mainstream pornography websites will be a substantial undertaking, given how widely available it has been.
The punishment for possession of such material is imprisonment of up to 2 years, whereas publication of such material is punished with a maximum of 5 years’ imprisonment.
What counts as possession and publication?
Possession generally means having custody or control of an image, for example knowingly keeping it on your phone, computer or cloud storage.
Publication includes making an image available to another person. It does not have to involve posting publicly: sending material to one person or sharing it in a private WhatsApp or Telegram group can also count.
Defences
Some of the defences available for these offences relate to knowledge. Therefore, a person who has not seen the image before and did not know, or have cause to suspect, that it was an image covered by these offences, may have a defence.
There may also be a defence of having a legitimate reason for possessing or publishing the image. For example, someone who receives an image as part of a threatening message may have a legitimate reason to retain it as evidence when reporting the threat to the police. Whether the defence applies will depend on the circumstances.
People who took part in the activity shown may have a defence to possessing their own images, provided the activity was consensual and did not cause serious harm. For incest roleplay, they must not actually have, or previously have had, the family relationship portrayed. For under-age roleplay, both participants must have been at least 16.
You may also be able to rely on a defence to possession if the image was sent to you without your having requested it, either personally or through a third party, and you have not kept the image for an unreasonable time.
For under-age roleplay material, the “fanciful” qualification explained above may also be relevant. If it is fanciful that the performer could actually be under 16 in the way pretended, the material falls outside this particular offence. This is a limit on the offence itself, rather than a separate defence.
What you should do if you are in possession of such material
The government expects you to ensure you delete any such material before 6 November 2026, when the legislation comes into force.
As of 6 November 2026, if you have been sent an image which is covered by these provisions and you have not asked for it (directly or through a third party), you must delete it within a reasonable time.
What the new law could mean in practice
One of the most significant effects of the new law is that people could risk committing a criminal offence from 6 November 2026 simply by keeping material they already have, without downloading anything new or realising that the law has changed.
Material covered by these offences has been widely available online for years, including on mainstream pornography websites. For some people, it reflects a particular sexual interest or fetish. Others may have downloaded large collections containing videos they have never watched or files they have forgotten about.
In my experience representing clients accused of sexual communication with a child or offences involving indecent images of children, approximately 80% of cases have involved an element of fantasy roleplay. I have also seen cases where an interest in increasingly extreme material developed over time from viewing legal pornography. The new legislation extends criminal liability to certain roleplay images even where the performers are adults.
Investigations into indecent images of children can begin with reports from online platforms or the detection of known images through their digital fingerprints, known as hashes. For these new offences, I would expect cases more often to emerge when devices are seized and examined during an investigation into another alleged offence.
If you are concerned that material in your possession may fall within the new offences, seek specialist legal advice.
About the author
Dana Bilan is an Associate Barrister in Reeds’ Private Client Department, with experience defending clients accused of serious sexual offences. She represents clients from the police investigation stage through to trial in the Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court, and advises on early representations to the police and prosecution.
For immediate confidential assistance, contact our specialist sexual offence team by calling 0333 240 7373 or email [email protected]
