Americans should really be grateful to the U.K. for so frequently reminding us to value the First Amendment.
asserted
Americans → remind → Amendment
The latest British contribution comes courtesy of the Crime and Policing Act of 2026, which makes it a crime to publish or possess certain genres of pornographic content.
asserted
it → come → content
Violators of the new rules could face two to three years imprisonment.
uncertain
Violators → face → imprisonment
That's a pretty steep punishment for merely possessing porn that features consenting adults engaging in sexual activities or fantasies of which the government disapproves.
asserted
government → possess → which
You are reading Sex & Tech, from Elizabeth Nolan Brown.
asserted
You → read → Brown
Specifically, the new law bans imagery that depicts strangulation or suffocation.
asserted
that → ban → strangulation
It also bans porn featuring sexual roleplay involving people pretending to be closely related or "where a reasonable person would think at least one person is, or is pretending to be, under 16."
asserted
person → ban → 16
Some have suggested that the law explicitly bans "BBW face sitting," "breast smother[ing]," and other specific acts, but they appear to be circulating a list of categories that the porn platform iWantClips has said it will suppress to comply with the law.
uncertain
it → suggest → law
The law itself does not explicitly define either strangulation or suffocation.
asserted
law → define → strangulation
Strangulation "generally means one person applying pressure to another person's neck," stated the Ministry of Justice.
asserted
Ministry → mean → Justice
"Suffocation will generally mean depriving a person of air in a way that affects their ability to breathe.
asserted
that → mean → ability
"
Whether a particular act falls under the parameters of the law will be determined in court on a case-by-case basis, the Ministry of Justice said.
asserted
Ministry → fall → Justice
That may be worse than if the government had directly defined illegal acts—and not just because it deprives us of Parliamentary debates around "feet smothering" and "ass smothering."
uncertain
it → define → smothering
Unsure exactly what counts as illegal content, adult creators and platforms will interpret the mandate broadly in order to stay safe, as the iWantClips list highlights.
asserted
list → Unsure → mandate
The Law Takes Effect This Week, Applies Retroactively
Starting November 6, 2026, it's a crime not only to publish videos or images featuring these newly banned categories of porn but also to possess them.
asserted
it → take → them
"Possession is a continuing act," the Ministry of Justice states.
asserted
Ministry → continue → Justice
"If you already possess an image covered by these offences, you will need to permanently delete it or otherwise get rid of it before 6 November 2026 to avoid committing an offence once the offences come into force.
asserted
offences → possess → force
Having published such an image at any time in the past would also leave one liable now.
asserted
one → publish → past
That leaves an array of professional porn producers and peddlers in potential trouble.
asserted
That → leave → trouble
The law stops short of cracking down on amateurs who have filmed or photographed themselves and a partner engaging in banned activities, so long as they keep it private and everything was consensual.
asserted
everything → stop → it
Still, this seems like it could open people up to investigations over private sexual activity in which they partook, especially if it's not immediately clear who is in a video or photo, or if the other party isn't readily available to avow consent.
uncertain
party → seem → consent
It is absurd to throw people into prison for such content, whatever you think of such content yourself.
asserted
you → throw → content
No one is harmed by two adults agreeing to engage in gentle choking during sex.
asserted
one → harm → sex
No one is harmed by two adults pretending having sex while pretending to be brother and sister.
asserted
one → harm → sex
I mean, ew on the latter, but whatever.
asserted
I → mean → latter
Some people are turned on by taboo.
asserted
people → turn → taboo
And I'm highly skeptical of the idea that watching "incest porn" will somehow induce people to go out and try to sleep with their family members in real life.
asserted
watching → watch → life
First they came for bbw facesitting and I did speak out but it was muffled by the bbw facesitting
— ailís malaru 🍥 🇮🇪 (@themalaru) October 30, 2026
If At First You Don't Succeed…
This isn't the U.K.'s first attempt at something like this.
asserted
This → come → this
Back in 2014, it banned a whole array of specific fetish acts in porn (prompting protests with slogans like "Sit on Santa's Face").
asserted
it → ban → Face
Those earlier regulations were reversed in 2019, with authorities saying such acts could be depicted so long as everyone involved was consenting, no one was harmed, and the content wasn't likely to viewed by anyone underage.
But the British censors never gave up the dream of ensuring that people don't this Monty Python classic to heart.
uncertain
people → reverse → heart
Florida's Polk County Sheriff's Office is at it again, announcing "281 arrests during human trafficking and child predator enforcement operation 'Polk Around and Find Out II' when the vast majority of the arrests were adults arrested for trying to do consensual sex work or to pay an adult sex worker for services.
asserted
majority → announce → services
"There were 117 suspects arrested for soliciting a prostitute," says a Polk County press release, and 122 suspects arrested on suspicion of prostitution.
asserted
release → be → prostitution
"Seventeen police agencies, some prosecutors, and a non profit" participated in this operation, points out Tara Burns.
asserted
Burns → participate → operation
The cops posed online as 13- or 14-year-olds or their guardians.
asserted
cops → pose → olds
The fact that those arrested on child-related charges were really talking with undercover cops doesn't make their (alleged) willingness to engage in sexual activity here any better.
asserted
willingness → arrest → activity
But it does mean that none of these cases involved actual children being harmed.
asserted
children → mean → cases
(It also leaves open the possibility that not everything went down exactly as police are claiming here.)
asserted
police → leave → possibility
That's relevant because people are always pointing to stings like these as evidence that sex trafficking of minors is at epidemic proportions.
asserted
trafficking → point → proportions
But nothing in this sting (or the many similar stings conducted in Polk County, Florida) suggests that.
uncertain
nothing → conduct → that
More Sex & Tech
• Noticing more and more—on the internet and in in-person conversations—that younger people are accusing older adults of being the ones who really have problems with their phones.
asserted
who → notice → phones
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
