If someone screenshots a disappearing intimate photo or video-call you sent them without your permission, that used to sit in a legal grey area in the UK. Since 29 June 2026, it doesn’t. A cluster of new offences under the Crime and Policing Act 2026 has quietly become one of the most creator-relevant pieces of law passed in years — and most creators have never heard of it.
What actually changed on 29 June
The Crime and Policing Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, but the offences that matter most to anyone who sells or shares intimate content didn’t come into force until a commencement order took effect two months later, on 29 June 2026. They sit alongside the existing intimate-image abuse offences in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, rather than replacing them.
Four new offences, in plain English
- Non-consensual “screenshotting” of temporary content. Taking a still copy of an intimate image or video that was only ever shared with an expectation it would disappear — a vanishing DM, a paid video call, a self-destructing photo — is now a specific criminal offence in its own right, separate from simply sharing it afterwards.
- Non-consensual intimate photography or recording. Filming or photographing someone in an intimate state without their consent, including during a paid interaction, is now explicitly caught by its own offence under section 66AB of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
- Making or supplying “nudification” tools. Building, distributing or offering apps and services designed to generate fake nude or intimate images of real people — the AI “undress” tools that have plagued creators for the past two years — is now a criminal offence, not just the act of using one.
- Possessing or publishing strangulation and suffocation pornography. Depicting non-fatal strangulation or suffocation in pornographic material was already restricted for publishers; the new Act makes simple possession of such material a standalone offence too.
Why this matters if you’re a UK-based creator
Content theft has always been the unavoidable cost of doing business on subscription platforms — screen recording paid content and redistributing it for free has never been fully solvable with takedown notices alone. This law doesn’t fix piracy overnight, but it changes the legal exposure of the person doing the stealing in a specific and useful way: the act of capturing a vanishing or time-limited piece of content without consent is now, on its own, a criminal act in England and Wales — before it’s ever leaked or resold anywhere.
The nudification offence is arguably the bigger deal. Several creators have already reported subscribers or ex-partners using “undress” apps to generate fake nude images from ordinary photos. Previously, enforcement relied on stretching existing harassment or malicious communications laws to fit. Now there’s a purpose-built offence that targets the tools themselves, not just how they’re used.
What to actually do if this happens to you
- Keep evidence before you act. Screenshot the offending post or message, note the account handle, URL and timestamp, before reporting or blocking — platforms and police both move faster with a clear paper trail.
- Report to the platform first for speed. Most platforms can remove infringing content faster than a criminal case will ever move — use this alongside, not instead of, a police report.
- Report to Action Fraud or your local police if you’re in England or Wales and believe one of these new offences applies to your case; ask specifically to have it logged against the relevant Sexual Offences Act 2003 or Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 provisions introduced by the 2026 Act, since awareness of these newer sections among frontline officers is still patchy.
- Consider the Revenge Porn Helpline (for adults) if the material involves you personally — they can also help with takedown requests across platforms that sit outside UK jurisdiction.
What this law doesn’t do
It’s worth being clear-eyed about the limits. An earlier proposal that would have let performers formally withdraw consent from content they’d previously agreed to publish did not make it into the final Act. The strangulation and nudification offences are also specifically about non-consensual creation and possession — they don’t touch what consenting adults produce and publish through a platform’s own verification process. And none of this reaches content hosted or shared from outside UK jurisdiction, which remains the practical limit of any national law in a borderless industry.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. If you believe you have been the victim of one of these offences, contact the police or a solicitor who specialises in image-based abuse for advice specific to your situation.
For the AI side of this problem specifically, see our guide to protecting your image from deepfakes and AI impersonation, and our recent coverage of how scammers are using AI deepfakes to impersonate OnlyFans creators. If your content has already been leaked, our breakdown of the FTC’s 48-hour takedown rule covers the US-side removal process.
