Fears new UK porn laws leave ‘healthy’ acts open to criminalisation

Concerns have been raised that new rules on pornography could lead to “healthy” and “consensual” sexual acts becoming criminalised.

Pornography depicting strangulation or suffocation, sex between people who are related or pretending to be related, or when somebody is pretending to be a child under 16, became illegal on Friday. The government insists it is “not here to police people’s private and consensual sex lives” and that the laws will tackle “real-world harm” caused by extreme pornography.

But the laws have faced backlash from those who are concerned videos of consensual sexual activity such as oral sex or breath play could be ensnared by the new rules due to the broad wording used in the legislation.

The new rules “makes it an offence to possess or publish a pornographic image which portrays, in an explicit and realistic way, a person strangling or suffocating another person, where a reasonable person looking at the image would think that the persons portrayed were real”.

Experts are clear that there are “significant risks associated with strangulation” in any scenario because of the potential for damage to the airway and blood vessels. Restriction can impact the brain’s blood supply, potentially resulting in brain damage, according to the Institute for Addressing Strangulation (IFAS), who have warned “there is no safe way”.

Non-fatal strangulation and suffocation were outlawed in 2022 under domestic abuse legislation, and the new laws follow recommendations made by Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin in her review into pornography regulation, which was reported in 2025. In the review, she said strangulation in porn had become “totally normalised” and that pornography which shows women being choked can have “devastating” real-world consequences.

Labour MP Jess Asato had also lobbied ministers to change the Crime and Policing Bill to add the restrictions. Both cited concerns about dangers posed to women and girls.

However, some have pointed out that the word “suffocation” could potentially be interpreted to include oral sex, face-sitting, and other acts that can be “a regular, healthy part of many couples' intimate lives”.

“A number of the acts being restricted on film, such as breath play, are already a regular, healthy part of many couples' intimate lives,” Gemma Nice, sex and relationship expert for Erobella, told The Independent.

“A lot of consensual, loving sex involves things like breath play, power dynamics, mild pain, or roleplaying taboos, all of this is done with deep trust, communication, and ongoing consent.”

The government has accused critics of “distracting from a serious issue” by “attempting to reduce this to a debate about semantics,” and said the specific words used are intended to “focus not on specific methods but on the harm itself”.

Andy Lulham, chief operating officer at age verification platform Verifymy, said there is a “fair debate” to have over where the law draws the line, but that content depicting violence can cause “real harm” to women, girls, and young people learning about sexual norms.

“Any legislation that makes the internet safer for them is a positive step, and the technology to help platforms enforce these new laws is ready to use today,” he said.

Minister for victims and tackling violence against women and girls, Alex Davies-Jones, said: "We are taking action to tackle the real-world harm extreme pornography is causing to women and girls. Attempts to reduce this to a debate about semantics distracts attention from a serious issue.

"Every day I speak to survivors of domestic abuse, and non-fatal strangulation is present in almost every case. In pornography, it is too often portrayed as normal sexual behaviour, but it is not, and it is not something anybody should feel pressured to do.

"I'm not here to police people’s private and consensual sex lives, I am here to keep people safe. We are talking about abusive and violent types of pornography, which promote behaviours that cause devastating consequences for victims and survivors.

"The law is clear. The focus is not on specific methods used, but the harm itself – however it is inflicted.

"Decisions on investigation and prosecution are matters for the police and CPS, and ultimately it is for the courts to determine whether an offence has been committed."