The UK government has announced it will make publishing or possessing pornographic depictions of strangulation or suffocation illegal.
Twenty years ago, studies investigating the content of porn found hardly any instances of strangulation. Fast-forward to 2025: an independent review of pornography found that strangulation was very common on the most popular porn sites. In the summer of 2025, the children’s commissioner released a report finding that 58% of young people had seen strangulation in porn, even though only 6% specifically searched for it.
Studies of male students have found a link: the more porn we watch, the more strangulation we view, and the more likely we are to strangle someone during sex. Reports suggest that between one-third and one-half of young people have been strangled during sex. This is also a gendered practice: typically men strangling, and women and sexual minorities being strangled.
But pornography is not the only thing influencing this phenomenon. Pop culture reinforces and reproduces the messages of choking being harmless and normal. Take, for instance, memes and hashtags like #chokemedaddy. The manosphere also encourages it, depicting it as ultra-masculine.
For a long time, it’s been known that strangulation can cause unconsciousness, sore throats, dizziness, and even strokes. But now, medical research with MRI scans and blood tests has found that frequent strangulation impairs brain functioning, which can impact information processing and the ability to concentrate. For younger individuals whose brains are still developing, this is especially concerning. So many young women are unaware of the serious risks of sexual strangulation, meaning they cannot freely consent to them. The common assumption is that choking is a safe sexual practice, which is why it is imperative that we educate the public about these potential harms.
And adopting a law is just the first step. We’ll have to wait and see how it is implemented and enforced. Rape porn is already illegal, but it remains widespread on mainstream platforms. This precedent is not making us hopeful.