UK to ban three types of extreme pornography from next month
A ban on pornography depicting strangulation and incestuous relationships - as well as someone pretending to be a child under 16 - will come into effect next month.
By Sky News
The UK Government will ban three types of extreme online pornography from 6 November.
The new rules will make it illegal to possess or publish pornography depicting strangulation or suffocation, sexual activity between certain relatives, and adults pretending to be children under the age of 16.
The changes apply in England and Wales and follow a review of pornography regulation led by Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin.
Non-fatal strangulation is already a criminal offence when carried out without consent. However, depictions of the act in online pornography have not previously been covered by the same law.
The legislation also covers incest and step-incest scenarios, along with role-play involving adults portraying children under 16.
Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said the measures were not intended to criminalise harmless sexual preferences. She urged people who possess the material to delete it and those sharing it to stop before the rules take effect.
Publishing or sharing the prohibited material will become a criminal offence. Possession will also be covered, including content stored on a phone, computer or cloud service.
The Government has commissioned the British Board of Film Classification to test whether online pornography can be monitored for violent and abusive content. The pilot is intended to assess how illegal material could be identified and reported across the large online market.
The new offences are due to come into force on 6 November.