The law on extreme pornography

In August 2005, a joint Home Office and Scottish Executive (now Scottish Government) consultation sought views on whether to make it illegal to possess “extreme pornography” featuring adults. This was in response to increasing public concern about the availability of this type of material online.

Following the consultation, the Westminster and Scottish governments introduced legislation to criminalise the possession of extreme pornography.

What is the law in England and Wales and Northern Ireland?

It is an offence to possess an extreme pornographic image in England and Wales and Northern Ireland under section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

An “extreme pornographic image” is an image which is both pornographic and extreme.

An image is “pornographic” if it is of “such a nature that it must reasonably be assumed to have been produced solely or principally for the purpose of sexual arousal.”

An image is “extreme” if it is “grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character” and depicts “in an explicit and 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
• a person performing an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal (whether dead or alive)
• 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

The latter two categories of prohibited material were added through section 37 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. This followed criticism from academics and women’s groups that the 2008 act originally failed to make it an offence to possess “rape pornography”.

Defences

General defence for possessing an extreme pornographic image

Section 65 of the 2008 act sets out general defences for someone charged with possessing an extreme pornographic image:

• that the person had a legitimate reason for being in possession of the image
• that the person had not seen the image and therefore neither knew, nor had reason to suspect, that it was an extreme pornographic image
• that the person had not asked for the image and had not kept it for an unreasonable period

Defence for possessing rape pornography

Regarding “rape pornography”, there is a defence for possessing an image where a person who is a participant in the image, as well as the possessor, can prove that, despite appearances, consent was given freely and by someone who had the capacity do so.

Defence for creating extreme pornography

An additional defence for those participating in the creation of extreme pornography is given in section 66. A defendant must prove, on the balance of probabilities, that they directly participated in the act portrayed in the image and that the act did not inflict non-consensual harm on any person.

Where a defendant is accused of creating images depicting necrophilia (sexual intercourse with a corpse), they must also prove that the human corpse portrayed was not in fact a corpse.

Where a defendant is accused of creating images depicting bestiality, they cannot use the defence of proving they have not inflicted non-consensual harm.

What is the law in Scotland?

In Scotland, section 51A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, as amended by section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, makes it an offence to possess extreme pornographic images.

When introduced in 2010, the Scottish offence went further than Westminster legislation at the time, in that it also applied to obscene pornographic images realistically depicting rape or other non-consensual penetrative sexual activity, whether violent or otherwise. However, as explained above, UK legislation also criminalised such material following the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.

Crime and Policing Bill – new extreme pornography offences

The House of Lords has agreed amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill that would categorise two widespread types of pornographic content as extreme pornography:

• possessing or publishing non-fatal strangulation pornography (often referred to as ‘choking’ content)
• possessing or publishing pornographic images of sex between relatives (often referred to as ‘incest porn’)

The Crime and Policing Bill returns to the House of Commons for consideration of the Lords amendments on 14 April 2026.