Child pornography laws in the United Kingdom


Child pornography laws in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are covered by the Protection of Children Act 1978, which made it illegal to take, make, distribute, show, or possess for the intent of showing or distributing an indecent photograph of someone under the age of 18. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison, or a fine. In the context of digital media, saving an indecent image to a computer's hard drive is considered to be "making" the image, as it causes a copy to exist which did not exist before. Indecency is to be interpreted by a jury, who should apply the recognised standards of propriety.
The prohibition of content on the Internet that is potentially illegal under this law by British internet service providers is however self-regulatory, coordinated by the non-profit charity Internet Watch Foundation.
The 1978 Act was extended in 1994 to cover "pseudo-photographs" - images that appear to be photographs. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 amended the age of subjects to which the act applied from under 16 to under 18. In 2008 the Act was further extended to cover tracings, and other works derived from photographs or pseudo-photographs. In 2009 all sexual images depicting under 18s, not just those that were derived from photographs or pseudo-photographs, were criminalised by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, under which any possession of images also became a criminal offence.
Similar legal provisions exist in Scotland but the 1978 Act does not extend to there.
The term "indecent images of children" or "child abuse images" are heavily defined in the United Kingdom, which also similar that term "child pornography".