Online pornography showing choking will become illegal, the government says
Online pornography showing strangulation or suffocation will be made illegal, as part of government plans to tackle violence against women and girls.
It comes after a review found that images of choking were “ubiquitous” on major pornographic websites and helped normalize the act among young people.
Possession and dissemination of such material would be a criminal offence, under amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill currently being presented to Parliament.
Online platforms will also be required to proactively detect and remove such material or face enforcement action via media regulator Ofcom.
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said the change would make pornography a “priority offence” under the Internet Safety Act, putting it on the same level as child sexual abuse material and terrorist content.
Technology Minister Liz Kendall said: “Viewing and sharing this type of material online is not only deeply disturbing, it is despicable and dangerous. Those who post or promote such content are contributing to a culture of violence and abuse that has no place in our society.”
“We are also holding tech companies accountable and making sure they stop this content before it spreads,” she added.
Baroness Bertin, a Conservative, warned earlier this year that there was a “complete lack of government scrutiny” of the pornography industry.
Its independent review was published in FebruaryShe cited the story of a 14-year-old boy asking his teacher how to choke girls during sex, and warned that people who imitate such behavior “may face serious consequences.”
The government pledged in June To put forward amendments to the bill that would prohibit showing choking in online pornography.
A survey conducted by the BBC in 2019 He pointed out that 38% of women between the ages of 18 and 39 were suffocated during sex.
Bernie Ryan, chief executive of the Choking Treatment Institute, welcomed the government’s amendment, saying choking could send “confusing and harmful messages” to women about what to expect in intimate relationships.
“Strangulation is a serious form of violence, and is often used in domestic violence to control, silence or terrorize,” she said.
Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, described the amendments as a “vital step” towards addressing the normalization of violence in online content.
“There is no such thing as safe strangulation; women cannot consent to the long-term damage it can cause, including impairment of cognitive performance and memory,” she said.
“Its widespread depiction in pornography fuels dangerous behaviour, especially among young people.”
But campaigner Fiona McKenzie, founder of the group We Can’t Agree to This, was less optimistic about the effectiveness of the proposed law.
She said there were already existing laws against showing choking in pornography, but they were not implemented in practice.
This included the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which criminalizes the possession of extreme pornography, including those showing life-threatening acts.
“For more than five years, young women have been telling us that social media has promoted choking women as normal, as an expression of affection,” she said.
“Porn sites normalize this for men – and none of these sites have ever felt the impact of the current law.
“So a change in law or practice is needed. It is possible that this time the government will do something about it.”
He added, “But until we see otherwise, I don’t think any new law will actually be implemented.”
The government said in June, when the amendment was pledged, that it built on existing laws, including the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.