Online pornography showing strangulation or strangulation is to be made illegal as part of the Government's plans to tackle violence against women and girls.
It follows a review which found images of choking were “proliferated” on mainstream porn sites and helped normalize the act among young people.
Both possession and publication of such material will be a criminal offense under amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill currently before Parliament.
Online platforms will also be required to proactively detect and remove such material or face enforcement action from media regulator Ofcom.
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said the change would make pornography strangulation a “priority offence” under the Internet Safety Act, putting it on the same level as child sexual abuse material and terrorist content.
Technology Minister Liz Kendall said: “Viewing and sharing this type of material online is not only deeply disturbing, it is disgusting and dangerous. Those who post or promote such content contribute to a culture of violence and abuse that has no place in our society.
“We are also holding tech companies accountable and making sure they stop this content before it has a chance to spread,” she added.
Fellow Conservative Baroness Bertin warned earlier this year that there was a “total lack of government control” over the pornography industry.
Her independent review published in February.cited a story about a 14-year-old boy who asked a teacher how to choke girls during sex, and warned that people imitating such behavior “could face devastating consequences.”
The government promised in June amend the bill to ban the display of choking in online pornography.
BBC survey conducted in 2019. suggested that 38% of women aged 18-39 had been strangled during sex.
Bernie Ryan, chief executive of the Anti-Strangulation Institute, welcomed the government's amendment, saying strangulation could send women “confusing and harmful signals” about what to expect in intimate relationships.
“Strangulation is a serious form of violence often used in domestic violence for the purpose of control, silence or intimidation,” she said.
Andrea Simon, director of the Coalition to End Violence Against Women, called the amendments a “vital step” toward normalizing violence in online content.
“There is no such thing as safe strangulation; women cannot accept the long-term harm this can cause, including cognitive and memory impairment,” she said.
“The ubiquitous portrayal of this phenomenon in pornography encourages dangerous behavior, especially among young people.”
But campaigner Fiona McKenzie, founder of the group We Can't Accept This, was less optimistic about the effectiveness of the proposed legislation.
She argued that there were already laws against showing choking in pornography, but they were not enforced in practice.
These include the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which criminalizes the possession of extreme pornography, including those depicting life-threatening acts.
“More than five years ago, young women told us that social media portrayed the strangulation of women as normal, as an expression of passion,” she said.
“Porn sites normalize this for men – and none of these sites have ever felt the impact of the existing law.
“Changes in law or practice are therefore necessary. It's possible that this time the government will actually be able to do something about it.
“However, until we see otherwise, I do not believe any new law will actually be implemented.”
The government said in June when the amendment was announced that it was based on existing laws including the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.
