United KingdomPossession of Advice or Guidance About Abusing Children Sexually or Creating CSA Images, Scotland
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
As of .
What it requires
- This offense is enacted but not yet in force in Scotland, so it asks nothing of an app or organization until the Scottish Ministers bring section 76 into force by regulations.
- Once in force, do not possess any item, meaning anything in which information of any description is recorded, that contains advice or guidance about abusing children sexually or creating CSA images.
- It is a defense to prove a legitimate reason for being in possession of the item, that you had not read, viewed or listened to it and did not know and had no reason to suspect what it contained, or that it was sent to you without any request and you did not keep it for an unreasonable time.
- A service provider that only provides access to a communication network, or transmits or temporarily stores information provided by a user in the ways section 41B describes, does not commit the offense, and a provider that stores a user's information keeps that protection only if it did not know the information was or contained such advice or guidance and promptly removes it or disables access once it knows.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
On summary conviction, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both; on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or a fine, or both (Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 s. 41A(4), as inserted by section 76).
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Sections 41A and 41B create a possession offense, defenses and service provider protections; none requires a person to keep or produce a log or record.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Section 76 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 inserts sections 41A and 41B into the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 and was not in force at Royal Assent. Under section 255(10)(d), sections 74 and 76 come into force, so far as they extend to Scotland, on such day as the Scottish Ministers appoint by regulations. It is an offense to be in possession of any item that contains advice or guidance about abusing children sexually or creating CSA images.
Abusing children sexually or creating CSA images means doing anything that constitutes an offense under section 52 or 52D of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, or one of the listed offenses under the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005, the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 and the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, some of them limited to offenses against a person under 18, or doing anything outside Scotland that would constitute such an offense if done in Scotland.
It is a defense for the person to prove a legitimate reason for being in possession of the item, or that the person had not read, viewed or listened to the item and did not know and had no reason to suspect that it contained such advice or guidance, or that the item was sent without any request and the person did not keep it for an unreasonable time.
The penalty on summary conviction is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both, and on conviction on indictment imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or a fine, or both. A service provider does not commit the offense by providing access to a communication network, or by transmitting information provided by a user, if it does not initiate the transmission, select the recipient or select or modify the information.
A service provider that stores information provided by a user who is not acting under its authority or control is protected if, when the information was provided, it did not know that it was or contained such advice or guidance, and it promptly removed the information or disabled access once it knew.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app generates content with AI.