Governments around the world are coming down hard on the pornography industry, with some of the biggest powers in the world restricting what we view online. While this is under the guise of protecting minors from seeing harmful materials, critics have called out potential privacy issues.
2025 has been a pretty rough year for sites like Pornhub. Amid 17 US states banning adult sites, Pornhub was briefly blocked in France, and the United Kingdom was forced to undertake its own third-party verification.
Pornhub has claimed its traffic has plummeted alongside multiple reports of VPN usage soaring. Now, X-rated sites are facing another blow, as distributing or even watching a major category of pornography will be classed as a criminal offense in the United Kingdom. With mounting concerns about the depiction of women online and how this treatment could flow into real life, 'choking' pornography will soon be classed as a priority offence' under the Online Safety Act. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) clarifies that pornography involving strangulation will sit on the same level as child sexual abuse materials and terrorism content.
Committing non-fatal strangulation was already a criminal offence in real life, although it's currently legal to be shown online.
What legal action will sites face for distributing strangulation pornography?
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Speaking to LADbible, the minister for victims and tackling violence against women and girls, Alex Davies-Jones, reiterated that there will be grave consequences for sites that fail to pull these materials offline.
Not just affecting the likes of Pornhub or OnlyFans, Davies-Jones explained: "If, for example, X is showcasing this type of pornography that we deem to be unacceptable and illegal now, under the powers that we've introduced today, then Ofcom can go after the platform."
In terms of monetary implications, she added: "And if they have proven to have failed to prevent that from being shown on the platform, then there is a fine for them of £18 million or up to 10 percent of global revenue, whichever is bigger; sadly we both know where that is in relation to some of these big platforms."
While Pornhub is a Goliath of the adult entertainment industry, a $23.5 million fine isn't exactly short change.
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Defending the decision as a way to project minors from viewing this kind of content, Davies-Jones continued: "Under the Online Safety Act as well, where they've got a failure to prevent this type of material being shown to children, and ensuring there are protections to children, then there are also criminal sanctions backed up, so individuals can be held liable and there are criminal sanctions, with prison sentences available for named individuals who fail to take action."
What legal action will users face for owning strangulation pornography?
For anyone underestimating the severity of watching these kinds of materials, amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill mean anyone found to have created or shared images without their consent could face prosecution up to three years after the offence. This is a substantial rise from the current ruling of six months.
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In terms of 'choking' porn, Davies-Jones reminded us that individuals need to be reminded of the rules: "If you are in possession of this type of material, you could receive up to two years in prison, and if you choose to distribute this, so share it, post it online, it's up to five years in prison."
The outlet notes this is the fourth time that strangulation porn has been banned in the United Kingdom. It was previously brought into law in 2014, but was repealed over issues surrounding personal consent.
Minister Davies-Jones concluded that the government is doing what it can to protect women and young girls from the real-life dangers potentially caused by this kind of sexual content: "Strangulation is never safe, it can't be done safely," she explains. "It takes 150 seconds for a death to occur if you are strangling someone and they are unconscious, it's extremely dangerous.
"What we are seeing is the normalisation of strangulation and choking in pornography, which is online and having a real world, offline consequence. We are seeing reports of young boys asking their teachers how to choke their girlfriend during sex, and it has become something that is to be expected by individuals in a sexual relationship."