Crime and Policing Act 2026: Offences relating to pornography
This page outlines the new criminal offences related to pornography introduced by the Crime and Policing Act 2026.
Applies to England and Wales
Introduction
The government recognises the harm that some forms of pornography can have in shaping real-world behaviour, including by normalising harmful or illegal sexual behaviour. That is why it has criminalised the possession and publication of particularly harmful forms of pornography, including material depicting strangulation or suffocation, sex between certain relatives (‘incest porn’), and adults roleplaying as children under 16. These offences tackle pornography that risks normalising conduct that is harmful or illegal in real life, such as child sexual abuse.
The offences
From 6 November 2026, it will be a criminal offence in England and Wales to possess or publish pornographic images that explicitly and realistically depict:
- strangulation or suffocation
- penetrative sexual activity between people who a reasonable person would think are related, or pretending to be related, in a certain way. 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
- 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 offences only capture pornography that shows people which appear, to a reasonable person, to be real.
The maximum penalty for possession is:
- 2 years’ imprisonment for pornography that depicts strangulation or suffocation, or penetrative sexual activity between certain relatives;
- 3 years’ imprisonment for pornography depicting sexual activity involving a person who is, or is pretending to be, under 16
The maximum penalty for publication for all offences is 5 years’ imprisonment.
There are defences available for these offences. For example, a person may have a defence to the possession and publication offences if they had not seen the image before and did not know, or have cause to suspect, that it was an image covered by the offences.
There is also a defence where the person who possesses or publishes the image directly participated in the act shown in the image and other criteria are met. For the possession offences, there is also a defence where a person was sent the image without asking for it (either themselves, or through a third party) and did not keep it for an unreasonable length of time.
The offences also attract a defence of legitimate reason for possessing or publishing the image.
What we mean by possession and publication
The term ‘possess’ is not defined in the legislation and will be given its ordinary meaning. Whether a person ‘possesses’ an image will be a question of fact for the court in each case. However, we consider that possessing an image will generally mean having custody or control of it. This could include where an image is stored on a device, retained in a personal account or cloud, saved in files, or otherwise kept physically or virtually.
‘Publish’ is defined in the offences to include giving or making an image available to another person by any means. This could include uploading, posting, sending, sharing or distributing an image.
What we mean by strangulation and suffocation
The term ‘strangulation’ is not defined in the legislation and will be given its ordinary meaning. Whether an image depicts strangulation will be a question of fact for the court in each case. We consider that strangulation generally means one person applying pressure to another person’s neck.
The term ‘suffocation’ is not defined in the legislation and will be given its ordinary meaning. Whether an image depicts suffocation will be a question of fact for the court in each case. We consider that suffocation will generally mean depriving a person of air in a way that affects their ability to breathe. Unlike strangulation, this does not require pressure to the neck. It could, for example, involve covering someone’s mouth and nose or compressing their chest.
What you need to do before 6 November 2026
Possession is a continuing act. If you already possess an image covered by these offences, you will need to permanently delete it or otherwise get rid of it before 6 November 2026 to avoid committing an offence once the offences come into force.
Publication can also be a continuing act. If you have uploaded, posted or otherwise made an image covered by these offences available whether online or offline, you will need to remove it and stop making it available to others before 6 November 2026.
If you possess or are continuing to publish an image covered by these offences, you must stop doing so before they come into force. This means if you possess it, you need to permanently delete it or otherwise get rid of it before commencement. If you are continuing to publish it (whether online or offline), you need to remove it and stop publication before commencement.