The government has announced its intention to crack down on harmful pornography under new amendments tabled to the Crime and Policing Bill, as part of its pledge to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
Under the measures, possessing or publishing pornography depicting incest or adults pretending to be children will become a criminal offence.
Each new offence comes with a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment for publication.
Announcing the measures, Alex Davies-Jones, minister for victims and tackling violence against women and girls, said: “I’ve sadly heard far too many devastating stories from victims and I know we need change now. Tackling violence against women and girls within a decade will take every single one of us.
“We have been clear that vile online pornography has real-life consequences for all of us and I’d like to thank every brave campaigner who has worked with us to deliver this vital step. Today we are sending a powerful message: we will stamp out misogynistic and harmful content online and create a safer world.”
The tabled amendments also mean technology executives could become personally liable for failing to remove harmful content from their platforms.
If a technology company fails to remove material Ofcom’s enforcement team highlights as having been shared without consent, tech bosses could be imprisoned, fined, or both.
Online safety minister Kanishka Narayan said: “Too many women have endured the distress of having intimate images shared online without their consent.
“Today we are tabling measures to hold tech bosses responsible for preventing this abuse. If they fail to remove these images they could face jail or substantial fines. This is not an optional requirement, it’s a duty that every tech leader must take seriously.”
Baroness Bertin, lead reviewer of the Independent Pornography Review, said: “I greatly welcome the government’s plans to fully address harmful pornographic content such as incest, step-incest and the mimicking of child sexual abuse.
“This content that is freely and widely available online is deeply harmful, normalising child sexual abuse and abusive relationships within families.”
Baroness Bertin added: “Given the ongoing impact of pornography on violence against women and children, I and others across the political divide have worked hard to ensure that this issue has remained in the spotlight.”
The amendment follows the government’s ban on depictions of strangulation in pornography and its ban on harmful and degrading nudification apps.
Under the tabled amendments, possession of pornography depicting adults roleplaying as children will carry a maximum sentence of three years. Possession of pornography depicting incest will carry a maximum sentence of two years.
