LONDON — U.K. media regulator Ofcom plans to begin enforcing new laws criminalizing certain “extreme” adult content online, but will first hold a consultation in early 2027 before providing updated guidance for sites and platforms.
Last month, the U.K. Ministry of Justice designated Nov. 6 as the date when England and Wales will begin enforcing new laws criminalizing depictions of “non-fatal strangulation,” as well as incest and sexual content in which adults portray underage characters.
On Thursday, an Ofcom spokesperson shared the following statement with XBIZ:
Pornographic content depicting strangulation, role-playing as a child and incest is now illegal online. This means individuals can be prosecuted by law enforcement for possessing or publishing this material.
New legal duties on tech firms to deal with this content will come into force once we have updated our codes of practice and guidance—as required by law—and we’re preparing to consult on this in the first half of 2027.
We’re already engaging with platforms to make sure they’re preparing to comply, and once in force, we’ll be holding them to account. But sites and apps don’t need to wait to take action.
The agency plans to publish further details later this month on the implementation timetable to bring the new duties on platforms into effect.
Under the new laws, possessing or publishing “pornographic images of strangulation or suffocation” is a priority offense under the Online Safety Act. Possession of such material could lead to up to two years in prison, while publication could result in sentences up to five years.
Publication or possession of sexual content in which adults portray characters under 16 is similarly banned.
The new law also includes language outlawing depictions of incest involving blood relatives. This ban does not apply to “step” content unless a performer is portraying someone under the age of 18.
While Ofcom ramps up its enforcement procedures, the U.K. government has reportedly tapped the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) for a pilot program to monitor for illegal online content. It remains unclear whether such monitoring could lead to enforcement actions by U.K. law enforcement or other government entities besides Ofcom.
