The UK government is set to introduce legislation that will criminalize pornography featuring scenes of strangulation and impose strict legal requirements on technological platforms to prohibit users in the country from accessing such material. The storage or publication of pornographic content depicting strangulation will be categorized as a criminal offence under the new "Crime and Public Order Bill," which was introduced to the British Parliament on November 3. This prohibition was integrated into the document following a recommendation from a government study on pornography, which concluded that such material contributes to the normalization of strangulation as a "sexual norm," as noted by the editorial team at The WP Times with reference to The Guardian.

Medical research consistently indicates that strangulation is never a safe practice, despite prevailing beliefs to the contrary. Even momentary oxygen deprivation can induce detrimental changes in the brain's structure, often without leaving visible external injuries. Numerous specialized studies have specifically demonstrated structural alterations in the brains of women who were repeatedly subjected to strangulation during sexual activity. These changes include markers of brain damage and functional disruptions in the cerebral hemispheres that are linked to symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Under the new amendment, platforms will be legally required to implement proactive measures to ensure that content containing strangulation scenes is not displayed to users located in the United Kingdom. This means that both pornographic websites and general technological platforms must, by law, guarantee that UK users cannot access such material.

Any platform failing to take the necessary preventative action faces substantial fines, potentially reaching up to £18 million (18 million British pounds). The legislative move follows a recent report from a human rights organisation which alleged that TikTok’s algorithm was recommending pornographic and highly sexualised content to children.

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Photo: Shiona McCallum