On March 3, 2026, the UK House of Lords voted 144-143 to amend the Crime and Policing Bill to ban pornography depicting sexual relationships between step-relatives — passing one of the most consequential adult content restrictions in recent memory by a single vote. The amendment, proposed by Baroness Bertin, who led a government-commissioned review into pornography regulation, would make possession of such content punishable by up to two years imprisonment and publication punishable by up to five years.

Why It Matters

"Step-family" themed content is one of the most popular categories across mainstream adult platforms — banning it in the UK would force major content producers and platforms to either geo-restrict vast content libraries or face criminal liability. The single-vote margin signals this will face intense lobbying as the Bill moves between the Houses. Combined with the Ofcom enforcement wave and Aylo's UK exit, the amendment could accelerate the fragmentation of the UK adult content market.

The razor-thin vote was part of a broader package of pornography amendments debated that day. A separate amendment banning content showing adults portraying children — including scenes with "settings in children's bedrooms" and "markers of childhood" — passed 142-140. Two other amendments received stronger support: court deletion orders (202-155) and a hash-matching register to track known illegal imagery (192-155).

Baroness Bertin justified the step-family provision by noting that "around half of all sexual abuse cases against children were perpetrated by step-parents," and that much existing incest-themed content uses step-family framing specifically to skirt current incest laws. The amendment would align pornography law with the Sexual Offences Act, under which sexual activity is already illegal in nearly all step-relationships.

Justice Minister Baroness Levitt pushed back, warning that a broader ban on step-relative pornography could "criminalise sexual relationships that are lawful between adults in real life" and would "significantly increase the complexity of the offence." The government expressed concern about diverting law enforcement resources and the difficulty of defining which step-relationships would be covered.

Sources

Update — 2026-03-15

Initial entry — story first created.