thumb|upright=1.35|right|[[De jure status of pornography:
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Pornography laws by region vary across jurisdictions in terms of definitions and restrictions on pornography. The production, distribution, and possession of pornographic films, photographs, and similar material are activities that are legal in many but not all countries, providing that any specific people featured in the material have consented to being included and are above a certain age. Various other restrictions often apply as well (e.g. to protect those who are mentally handicapped or highly intoxicated). The minimum age requirement for performers is most typically 18 years.
Pornography is usually expressed as obscene material by law and the meaning and range of obscenity differ from country to county. Most western countries allow hard-core pornography showing genitals and actual penetrations while other countries only allow soft-core pornography without showing genitals and actual penetrations. There are countries that ban pornography completely. It is illegal only to distribute and sell pornography in some countries, while in some countries it is even illegal to possess and watch it.
This article excludes material considered child pornography or zoophilic pornography. In most cases the legality of child pornography and the legality of zoophilic pornography are treated as separate issues, and they are usually subject to additional, specialized laws. Specialized laws to address the emerging phenomenon of "deep fake" pornographic content became an active subject of law-making and litigation in the 2020s, although fictional and semi-fictional pornography have existed throughout history. However, this news is subject to litigation.
Summary of pornography laws
This is a summary table of laws and their enforcement by governments. The subsequent sections contain more detail on each of the jurisdictions.
Africa
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| Angola
|It is illegal to import pornography into Angola. However, the law about possession and distribution is not clearly stated.
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| Botswana ||Under the article 178, the possession of "indecent and obscene material such as pornographic books, magazines, films, videos, DVDs, Blu-Ray, VHS, and software" is prohibited in Botswana. Possession or import of such material is illegal and punishable by a fine or up to four years imprisonment.
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| Djibouti ||
The sale, manufacture, or distribution of all pornography, including child pornography, is prohibited, and is punishable by one year's imprisonment and a fine of up to 200,000 DJF ($1,130).
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| Egypt ||Distribution is illegal Possession and access of pornography are not criminalised.
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- No broad internet blocks
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| Eritrea ||
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| Eswatini ||Under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act, No. 15 or 2018, the publication, viewership, and sharing of pornography is legal in Eswatini only if it passes a three-element test. Pornography is legal if it does not involve any non-consenting persons (including children or those with a significant disability), can be easily traced to its creator, and does not otherwise depict a sexual offense.
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| Ethiopia ||
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| Gabon ||
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| Ghana ||
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| Kenya ||
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| Malawi ||
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| Morocco<br /> ||In 2004, Morocco introduced severe punishments for promoting pornography.
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| Nigeria ||
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| South Africa ||Pornography rated X18 is permitted by the law only if sold to persons over the age of 18 in registered stores.
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| South Sudan ||
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| Sudan ||
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| Tanzania ||
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| Uganda ||Made illegal in 2014 up to 10 years in prison, defined as "any representation of the sexual parts of a person for primarily sexual excitement".
|In July 2018, the Ugandan government directed the country's ISPs to block 27 pornographic websites.
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| Zambia ||
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Asia
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| Bangladesh ||Pornography Law 2012
|Banned and Punishable by Jail
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| Bhutan||
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| People's Republic of China
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- Criminal Law Section 9
- Public Security Administration Punishments Law
- Law on the Protection of Minors
|Life imprisonment for mass produce.
3-10 years in prison for general.
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| Hong Kong
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| India (including all states and union territories)||
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- Blocking orders by the government to ISPs
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| Indonesia ||
|Blocking any websites even social networks that allows pornography for example, Reddit and Newgrounds are blocked in Indonesia, avoids blocking X due to pressure from X but restrict X for anyone without ID as part of Social Media ban for under 16s that came into force by March 2026.
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| Iran || Pornography is illegal under Iranian law, which is based on Sharia Law.
|Death penalty.
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| Iraq ||
- Penal Code Paragraph 403
- Law on Combatting Prostitution
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- All pornography sites are banned in Federal Iraq as of 2022
- No bans in autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Region
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| Japan ||
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- Pornography showing sexual genitals is illegal in Japan. Pornography that blurred out sexual genitals is considered legal which is called AV(Adult Video).
- This even apply on online by 2011.
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| North Korea ||
|Death penalty if foreign involved.
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| South Korea ||
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- Article 243 and 244 do not apply to online pornography.
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| Laos ||
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| Macau ||
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| Malaysia ||
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| Maldives ||
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| Mongolia ||
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| Nepal ||Banned
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| Philippines ||
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| Qatar ||
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| Saudi Arabia || Pornography is a crime under the Sharia Law.
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| Singapore ||
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| Sri Lanka ||
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| Syria ||
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| Taiwan || J.Y. Interpretation No. 617 & Article 235 of the Criminal Code.
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| Tajikistan ||
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| Thailand ||
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| Turkey ||
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- Blocking access to some websites that allow users to share pornographic content
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| Turkmenistan ||
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| Uzbekistan ||
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| Vietnam ||
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=== Europe === <!--Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey can be found under "Asia"-->
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| Albania ||
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| Andorra ||
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| Austria ||
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| Belarus ||
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| Belgium ||
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| Bosnia and Herzegovina ||
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| Bulgaria || |
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| Croatia ||
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| Czech Republic ||
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| Denmark <br />(including all territories) ||
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| Estonia ||
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| Finland<br />(including Åland) ||
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| France <br />(including all territories) ||
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| Germany ||
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| Greece ||
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| Hungary ||
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| Iceland ||
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| Ireland ||
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| Italy ||
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| Latvia ||
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| Liechtenstein ||
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| Lithuania ||
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| Luxembourg ||
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| Malta ||
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| Moldova ||
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| Monaco ||
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| Montenegro ||
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| Netherlands<br /> (including all territories) ||
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| North Macedonia ||
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| Norway <br />(including all territories) ||
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| Poland ||
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| Portugal <br />(including all territories) ||
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| Romania ||
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| Russia||
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| San Marino ||
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| Serbia ||
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| Slovakia ||
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| Slovenia ||
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| Spain<br />(including all territories) ||
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| Sweden ||
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| Switzerland ||
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| Ukraine ||
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| United Kingdom (including all territories) ||
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| Vatican City ||
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North-South America
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| Antigua and Barbuda ||
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| Argentina ||
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| The Bahamas ||
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| Barbados ||
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| Belize ||
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| Bolivia ||
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| Brazil ||
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| Canada ||
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| Chile ||
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| Colombia ||
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| Costa Rica ||
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| Cuba ||
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| Dominica ||
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| Dominican Republic ||
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| Ecuador ||
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| El Salvador || It is illegal to import "obscene articles" into El Salvador.
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| Grenada ||
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| Guatemala ||
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| Guyana ||
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| Haiti || It is illegal to import pornography into Haiti.
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| Honduras || It is illegal to import pornography into Honduras.
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| Jamaica ||
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| Mexico ||
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| Nicaragua ||
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| Panama ||
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| Paraguay ||
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| Peru ||
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| Saint Kitts and Nevis ||
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| Saint Lucia ||
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| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ||
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| Suriname ||
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| Trinidad and Tobago ||
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| United States (including all territories) ||
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| Uruguay ||
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| Venezuela ||
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Oceania
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!Enforcement
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| rowspan="9" | Australia
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- Criminal Code Act 1995Australia has the strictest laws against harmful/illegal pornography that many medias are censored or banned and highly enforcement by airport checks over imported even if came from device.
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|Australian Capital Territory
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- Crimes Act 1900
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|New South Wales||
- Crimes Act 1900 However, pornography cannot be imported into Fiji.
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| Kiribati
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| Nauru
| colspan="2" |Pornography, including online pornography, is illegal in Nauru and pornographic websites are blocked.
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| New Zealand
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| Papua New Guinea
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| Samoa
| colspan="2" |Pornography is illegal in American Samoa and is punishable by a fine of up to $USD5,000.
|In 2021, a court ruled that online pornography should be blocked by Samoa's two major service providers, Digicel and Vodafone.
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| Solomon Islands
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| Tonga
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| Tuvalu
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| Vanuatu
| colspan="2" |Production of pornography is illegal in Vanuatu.
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See also
- Legality of child pornography
- Legal status of fictional pornography depicting minors