UK Criminalizes Intrafamily Abuse in Explicit Content

The UK government has criminalized the possession and publication of explicit content depicting intrafamily abuse, including scenarios involving stepfamily members and roleplaying as individuals under 18, as part of amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill announced on April 10, 2026.

The measure, which passed the House of Lords by a narrow margin of 144 to 143 votes the previous week, targets material that officials say normalizes child mistreatment and abusive family dynamics. It builds on a review led by Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin, who tabled the amendment after her 2025 report highlighted risks of exploitation in the explicit content industry. The government initially resisted, noting that consensual relationships between adult step-relatives are legal under English and Welsh law, but ultimately agreed to the ban following the Lords' vote and potential opposition in the Commons.

Under the new law, publishing such content carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, while possession can result in up to two years for intrafamily abuse depictions and three years for material showing adults roleplaying as children. Platforms must proactively remove this...