Pornography

This page details some of the current legal and regulatory issues surrounding the possession and distribution of pornography in the United Kingdom.

Age verification

From 2018, all sites providing pornography are required to take active steps to ensure that users accessing their content are above the age of 18.

This is covered in detail on the Online age verification page.

Extreme pornography

"Extreme pornography" is a category of content prohibited by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. The offence is a strict-liability offence, and carries a maximum sentence of up to 3 years imprisonment, a fine, or both. As a possession offence, this applies to anyone possessing any applicable content rather than just those who are publishing or distributing it.

The Act defines extreme pornography as an image which is grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character, and portrays in a realistic way any of the following:

• an act which threatens a person's life,
• an act which results, or is likely to result, in serious injury to a person's anus, breasts or genitals,
• an act which involves sexual interference with a human corpse, or
• a person performing an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal (whether dead or alive).

It is also a requirement that a "reasonable person looking at the image would think that any such person or animal was real".

The extreme pornography possession offence is often confused with the provisions of the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations, which are much wider and apply to content that would fall outside of that which is caught by the BBFC's R18 video classification, such as that featuring urination or female ejaculation. The AVMS Regulations apply only to publishers of a specific type (namely "on demand programme services") so it is not correct to suggest that this type of material is 'illegal' or cannot be possessed in the United Kingdom.

Rape pornography

In 2015, the "extreme pornography" offence detailed elsewhere on this page was extended by the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, which also prohibits possession of images which portray, "in an explicit and realistic way, either of the following:

• an act which involves the non-consensual penetration of a person’s vagina, anus or mouth by another with the other person’s penis, or
• an act which involves the non-consensual sexual penetration of a person’s vagina or anus by another with a part of the other person’s body or anything else".

A reasonable person looking at the image must think that the persons were real.

Prosecution for the possession of this kind of material is carried out under the same offence as that of 'extreme pornography', and thus the potential penalty is the same. The maximum penalty for possession of pornography depicting non-consensual penetration is also three years imprisonment, a fine, or both.

Prohibited content on streaming services (AVMS Regulations)

The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 specifies that an 'on-demand programme service' (ODPS) is prohibited from distributing any material which the UK's 'video works authority' (BBFC) have either determined would be unsuitable for classification, or material which is "reasonable to expect" that they would deem unsuitable for classification. The BBFC's rating guidelines offer some examples on the 'R18' page of material which may be rejected.

Effectively, this means that an ODPS is prohibited from streaming any kind of content which the BBFC would reject for classification if it formed part of a mainstream video work.

When this amendment went into force, it generated a large amount of media attention which focused on examples of niche pornography which would be 'banned' or 'prohibited' for UK porn consumers. Such lists were largely based upon the BBFC guidelines and an example can be seen in an article in The Independent, titled "A long list of sex acts just got banned in UK porn".

The AVMS Regulations are often confused as being a possession offence, or conflated with being 'extreme pornography'. This is not the case. The AVMS Regulations apply only to publishers who meet the ODPS definition, so it is not correct to suggest that this type of material is 'illegal' or cannot be possessed in the United Kingdom.

"Virtual Child Pornography"

The phrase 'virtual child pornography' refers to a category of prohibited pornographic material which does not involve any real children in the production process. As such, some academics prefer to use the term 'Non-Photographic Pornographic Images of Children' (NPPIC). The material can take the form of drawings, 3D renders, cartoons, or other non-photographic visual depictions.

Possession of NPPIC is prohibited in England and Wales by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, which prohibits the possession of 'virtual' or drawn pornographic images of children. The Act specifically does not apply to "indecent photographs" of real children and only to material which does not involve children in the production process.

The offence carries a penalty of up to 3 years imprisonment, a fine, or both.