UK extreme porn ban starts tomorrow: what it means for Ireland

The UK change has made headlines here, partly because many of the sites involved are the same ones Irish users visit. So what has the UK actually done, and what is coming down the line in Ireland?

What the UK ban covers

The new offences come in under the Crime and Policing Act 2026 and apply in England and Wales. Three types of content become illegal to possess or publish:

The content does not have to be real. If a reasonable person would believe what they are seeing, it counts, and incest role-play is covered even when the performers are not related.

Publishing covers more than uploading. Keeping old videos available to subscribers after 6 November can be an offence, and so can holding material bought before the ban. That is why some adult sites have already pulled whole categories for UK users (Indecent Images Solicitor, ITV News).

How people have reacted

Reaction has split along familiar lines: campaigners say the ban is overdue, critics say it reaches into consenting adults’ private lives.

What about Northern Ireland?

The ban starting tomorrow was written for England and Wales, so it does not apply directly in Northern Ireland. Stormont’s Justice Minister Naomi Long has said she intends to extend the strangulation offence to the North, subject to Assembly agreement. We could not confirm that extension is in force yet, so for now the North is the gap on the island (Irish Legal News).

Ireland’s plan: what is included

Ireland has approved drafting a law to criminalise possessing, producing and distributing extreme or violent pornography. It is not law yet. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan got Cabinet approval in July 2026, and the Department of Justice says Ireland does not currently criminalise possession of this material at all (gov.ie).

Based on what the Government and reporters have said so far, the plan covers:

• Serious sexual violence in pornography – the core of the new offences (TheJournal.ie).
• Bestiality and necrophilia material, plus a standalone offence of necrophilia.
• Strangulation or suffocation that causes harm, which is expected to be included in the draft (Irish Examiner).
• AI-generated and simulated material that looks real to a reasonable person.

There will be defences for legitimate artistic or investigative material. Penalties have not been announced, and nothing published so far mentions incest role-play or adults posing as children, which the UK has banned.

The push came from the courts. The High Court found that no Irish offence covered possession of extreme material, which arose in two extradition cases. The new offences will be added to the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences, Domestic Violence and International Instruments) Bill, which still has to be drafted, published and passed by the Oireachtas (RTÉ).

What Ireland can expect

Nothing changes in the Republic tomorrow, and no date has been set for the Irish law. When it comes, expect:

• A broader ban than the UK’s. The UK targets three specific categories. Ireland’s draft is built around “extreme or violent” porn generally, and campaign group SERP wants it to cover mainstream free sites too.
• Possession becoming an offence. That is the real change for users – today only producing or sharing certain harmful content is covered.
• A constitutional balancing act. The Attorney General has advised there is no legal barrier, but the wording has to respect freedom of expression, so expect debate when the bill is published.
• Age checks already in place. Since July 2025, Coimisiún na Meán’s Online Safety Code has required video-sharing platforms hosting porn to use real age assurance, not a tick-box, with fines that can run into the hundreds of millions of euro (Irish Examiner).
• An EU angle. Ireland has used its EU Council Presidency to push other member states towards a joint approach, so wider European rules may follow.

Until the bill is passed, the UK rules only matter to people in Ireland if they are in England or Wales, or publish content aimed at UK users.