LONDON — The U.K. government has tapped the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) for a pilot program to monitor online pornography for illegal and “extreme” content, as it prepares to enforce new content restrictions, British media outlet Sky News is reporting.
The BBFC provides age suitability ratings and content advisories for films, video releases and other media in the United Kingdom. According to the Sky News report, the government-commissioned Audit of Internet Services pilot program is intended to “test the feasibility” of monitoring online adult content in the same manner as the organization monitors films and DVDs. This would include “generating evidence on the availability of certain online pornographic content and evaluating how it could be monitored and reported on at scale given the huge size of the market.”
The move comes as the U.K. prepares to begin enforcing new laws criminalizing depictions of “non-fatal strangulation” in adult content, as well as sexual content in which adults portray characters under 16. Earlier this month, a Ministry of Justice official stated that the government was working to bring the new provisions into force “as quickly as practicable.”
That statement came in response to pressure from Baroness Gabrielle Bertin, a Conservative member of the House of Lords who led the drive in Parliament toward the new “choking” ban and the other new content regulations. Bertin served as independent lead reviewer on an influential February 2025 report that recommended the government appoint “a body, such as the BBFC, who have experience in moderating content, to audit content from platforms hosting pornography to ensure they are tackling prohibited and illegal content.”
The BBFC, which participated in an “Independent Pornography Review” task force convened by Bertin, has actively sought the job, stating that it “stands ready to take on a formal auditing role” in scrutinizing online pornography.
