Overview
- Ministers confirmed they have tabled amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise possession and publication of pornography depicting strangulation or suffocation.
- The offence would be treated as a priority under the Online Safety Act, requiring porn sites and tech platforms to proactively prevent UK users from seeing the material.
- Ofcom would enforce the new duties, with potential penalties of up to £18 million for companies that fail to act.
- A separate amendment would extend the prosecution window for intimate image abuse from six months to three years to improve access to justice for victims.
- Regulators and advocates, including the BBFC and the Institute For Addressing Strangulation, welcomed the plans as the bill returns to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.