The rules took effect on 6 November for possession or publication of specified depictions. Performer Vex Ashley says she has reedited a film she feared could contain prohibited material.
New offences in England and Wales cover possessing or publishing pornography that explicitly and realistically depicts strangulation or suffocation, certain penetrative sexual activity between people who are or appear to be related, or sexual activity involving someone a reasonable person would think is under 16 or is pretending to be under 16. The provisions took effect on 6 November.
The law uses a reasonable-person test: the people shown must appear real, and the test also applies to whether they are related or pretending to be related in a specified way, or whether someone is or is pretending to be under 16. The provisions apply to material kept in private as well as material published for others.
404 Media quoted the penalties in its 5 November account of the Crime and Policing Act provisions. Publication carries a higher maximum sentence than possession.
According to the guidance reported by 404 Media, the possession and publication rules also apply to existing material retained or published after the provisions took effect.
| Offence | Maximum sentence |
|---|---|
| Possession: strangulation, suffocation or specified relative depictions | 2 years |
| Possession: sexual activity involving someone who is or is pretending to be under 16 | 3 years |
| Publication: any of the covered categories | 5 years |
Government guidance generally describes strangulation as applying pressure to another person’s neck. It describes suffocation as depriving someone of air in a way that affects breathing, which can include covering the mouth and nose or compressing the chest. The Free Speech Coalition, an adult-industry advocacy group, says the government does not require the depiction to appear life-threatening.
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404 Media said the wording could cover some face-sitting depictions. Courts will decide how the law applies to disputed material; the platform categories described below do not establish that every face-sitting depiction meets the legal tests.
Ashley, a performer and producer who owns independent studio Four Chambers, said she reviewed her back catalogue while the bill was passing through Parliament. She substantially reedited a film because she believed it could contain material covered by the law. Ashley also said she believed possessing her original cut could be illegal.
Creators told 404 Media that adult clip site iWantClips had said it was required to remove certain categories for UK-based artists in light of the law. Its listed categories included face sitting, smothering and trampling fantasies.
In its 9 November newsletter, 404 Media reported creators’ accounts that hundreds of videos were disappearing from Clips4Sale with little notice as a precautionary measure, including videos the creators believed complied with the law. Creator Sophia Truee said creators had prepared for the Act but not removals on that scale, and criticized the lack of communication.
UK-based writer and sex worker Melissa Todd said back catalogues can provide continuing income, and that removing material could mean losing an asset built over years. She said existing platform rules had already led her to avoid uploading much of the material for sale. Truee said the removals could wipe out years of creators’ work.
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