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Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
The United Kingdom has announced new laws as part of its crackdown on harmful pornography under new Government amendments tabled to the Crime and Policing Bill released last Friday (10 April).
Under the new legislation, pornography depicting illegal sexual conduct between family members and adults roleplaying as children will be criminalised.
The first of these vital measures will ban anyone from possessing or publishing harmful pornography that shows incest between family members, and sex between step or foster relations where one person is pretending to be under 18.
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This content is more popular than you might expect. 'Step mom' was the 11th most searched term on Pornhub in 2025 and 2024. Alex Hawkins, VP at the porn site xHamster, told Mashable there are around 40 times more 'step incest' themed videos on the website than there were a decade ago.
A further amendment will criminalise the publication and possession of pornography where an adult is roleplaying as a child.
The publication of pornography depicting adults roleplaying as children or depicting incest will carry a maximum sentence of five years.
Meanwhile, 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.
Gov.uk adds that 'further details on the amendments will be set out in due course'.
Law professor Clare McGlynn sounded the alarm bell for incest porn, particularly featuring performers pretending to be under 18, last year.
She wrote about 'the vast swathes of material with (step)fathers and (step)brothers having sex with very young-looking girls'.
She went on: "They may be actors over 18, but they are often in children’s clothes, surrounded by children’s toys, with pigtails, braces and other markers of childhood.
"The scenarios are often about creeping into young girls’ bedrooms, coercing or grooming them into sex. These videos are viewed and given the thumbs up online by millions."
She adds: "The claim that incest porn is fantasy without real-world effects assumes incest is rare, abhorrent. But it’s not.
"It’s commonplace, with 500,000 children in England and Wales sexually abused each year. These are predominantly girls, with (step)fathers accounting for up to half of the perpetrators."
Baroness Bertin, Lead reviewer of the Independent Pornography Review, said in a statement last week (10 April): "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.
"My review on pornography is clear that the production and dissemination of this content should be made illegal, which is why I laid amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise this type of content."
She continued: "My review is also clear that the people who appear in pornography are at a high risk of exploitation, coercion and violence, which is why the onus should be on pornography platforms to ensure that everyone who appears in pornographic content is over the age of 18 and has given their consent, and that they have the right to withdraw that consent.
"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.
"Today the Government has answered our calls for change, and I am delighted that once again the UK is leading the way on regulating this high-harm industry. I commend the Government for their work in this area and look forward to continuing to work with them as we make the online and offline world safer for everyone."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
