By Yair Cohen, Solicitor specialising in internet and media law

What the 2026 Crime and Policing Act changes for adult content

The new pornography offences, who they affect, and why audio and text are treated differently

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 creates new criminal offences around certain kinds of pornographic images, but every one of them is written to catch images, so audio-only and text-only work stays outside them. The new offences cover pornographic images of strangulation and suffocation, images depicting incest or people who appear to be related, and images of sexual activity where a participant is or is pretending to be under 16. This guide explains what the new offences do, why the image-only wording matters so much, the one trap where sound can pull a video into scope, and the indirect effects creators should plan for.

We act for adult creators and performers who want to understand what is actually changing rather than react to headlines. The short summary is that these reforms tighten the law at the visual end of the market, and their direct effect on pure audio or text is nil, but their indirect effects, on platforms, payment processors and the wider legal climate, are real and worth getting ahead of.

The new offences, in outline

The reforms follow the Independent Pornography Review and target specific categories of image. There are three groups to be aware of. First, offences covering pornographic images of strangulation or suffocation, reflecting long-standing concern about the normalisation of choking in adult content. Second, offences covering images that depict penetrative sex between people a reasonable person would think are related, or pretending to be related, extending in defined ways to certain step-relations. Third, offences covering images of sexual activity where a participant is, or is pretending to be, under 16, with a carve-out so that someone is not treated as pretending to be under 16 where it is fanciful that they actually are. Each creates possession and publication-style offences of the kind already familiar from the extreme-pornography regime.

Why "image" is the word that matters

The reason these offences do not touch audio is a single definitional choice: they all borrow the existing image-only definition. That definition covers a moving or still image produced by any means, or data that can be converted into such an image. A sound recording is neither an image nor convertible into one, so it falls outside the new offences just as it falls outside the older extreme-pornography offence. Written material is outside them too. So an audio roleplay, however extreme its themes, is not caught by the 2026 image offences, and neither the creator nor a listener commits one of these offences in relation to audio alone.

This is not an accident or a loophole to be nervous about, it is how Parliament drew the line. When Parliament turned its mind to adults pretending to be minors in 2026, it criminalised images and left the position on sound recordings unchanged. That deliberate choice is itself a useful point when the older Obscene Publications Act is applied to audio, because a court should be slow to use the 1959 Act to do work that Parliament declined to give the modern offence.

The one trap: sound attached to an image

There is one place where sound stops being safe, and creators who work across formats need to know it. Where sound is associated with an image, the reforms allow that sound to be taken into account in judging the image. So a soundtrack that implies a family relationship, or that implies an age, can bring a video within one of the new offences even where the pictures on their own would not. Audio on its own stays outside the offences; the same audio laid over explicit video does not. The practical rule is simple: keep extreme audio and any visual material strictly apart, and never pair an implied-age or implied-family soundtrack with explicit imagery.

Are the new offences in force yet?

Timing matters, because an offence that is not yet in force cannot be committed. As matters stood in mid-2026, these offences had received Royal Assent but were awaiting commencement regulations, so they were not yet in force. Commencement of provisions like these is typically staged by regulations made after Royal Assent, and the exact dates can move. Because this is a point that changes, it should be checked against the current position before relying on it, and it is one of the things we keep under review for clients. The direction of travel, though, is settled: these offences are coming, and the sensible planning assumption is that the visual end of the market will be more tightly policed.

The indirect effects that reach audio creators

Even though the new offences do not touch audio directly, two knock-on effects will reach audio creators, and both are worth planning for now. The first is platform and payment-processor pressure. Once these offences are in force, they become priority offences under the Online Safety Act, which obliges platforms to police the visual equivalents proactively. Platforms and processors tend to apply a single policy across formats rather than draw fine legal distinctions, so audio in the same thematic categories is likely to face more restriction over time, as a matter of platform policy rather than criminal law.

The second is the effect on the obscenity analysis. When Parliament criminalises conduct, the CPS treats that as an indicator that depicting the conduct tends to deprave and corrupt. So the enactment of these image offences subtly strengthens the argument that equivalent audio could be obscene under the Obscene Publications Act 1959, even though the new offences themselves do not apply to sound. That does not change the fundamentals, audio remains outside the image offences, and the audience-relative obscenity test still favours narrow, verified, adult distribution, but it is a reason the extreme end of the audio market warrants more care than it did. We set that wider analysis out in our guide on whether audio pornography is legal in the UK and in our guide on the Obscene Publications Act explained for adult creators.

What to do about it

The practical response is measured, not dramatic. If you work in audio, note that the new offences do not apply to you, but keep your extreme audio away from any visual content so a soundtrack never pulls a video into scope. If you work in images or video, this is the moment to review the strangulation, family-relationship and any age-ambiguous material in your catalogue against the new categories. Across both, expect platform and payment-processor policies to tighten around these themes and plan your distribution accordingly. And keep an eye on commencement, because the date these offences take effect is the date the direct rules bite for visual creators. We monitor these developments for clients and can review a catalogue against the new categories before they are in force.

Frequently asked questions

Do the 2026 offences apply to audio roleplay? No. Every one of the new offences is defined around images, and the law defines an image as visual. Audio-only work is outside all of them, as is text.

What about a soundtrack on a video? That is the exception. Sound associated with an image can be taken into account in judging the image, so an implied-age or implied-family soundtrack can bring a video within the offences even where the pictures alone would not. Keep extreme audio and visual content separate.

Are these offences in force now? As at mid-2026 they had received Royal Assent but were awaiting commencement regulations. Commencement dates can change, so this should be checked against the current position before you rely on it.

I only make audio. Do I need to do anything? Directly, no. But it is worth keeping extreme audio away from images, and being aware that platforms and payment processors are likely to tighten their policies around these themes across all formats.

Is this legal advice? No, it is general legal information for adult content creators, and this is a fast-moving area. Take advice on your specific catalogue, and check the current commencement position, before relying on any of it.