Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to make harmful pornographic content illegal on online platforms.

The Online Safety Act protects users from harmful and illegal pornographic content. Extreme pornography is a priority offence, meaning that services must proactively mitigate and remove such content.

In addition, the Secretary of State and Victims Minister are introducing a new offence via the Crime and Policing Bill that will crack down on violent pornography, criminalising the possession and publication of images depicting strangulation and suffocation. This will also be designated as a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, meaning platforms will be required to take proactive steps to prevent users from seeing illegal strangulation and suffocation content.

Since 25 July 2025, services that host, publish or allow the sharing of pornography must also implement highly-effective age assurance to prevent children encountering pornographic content.

These measures are part of the government's Plan for Change to halve violence against women and girls, sending a strong message that dangerous and sexist behaviour will not be tolerated.