United KingdomAuthorized Technology Testing Defense for Obscenity and Child Abuse Image Offenses (Regulation-Making Power)
Crime and Policing Act 2026, c. 20, ss. 111-112 (obscenity etc offences: technology testing defence)
In force since .
An AI governance rule binding government bodies.
- Audit expectation
- none
As of .
What it requires
- This provision binds the Secretary of State and creates no defense by itself; it lets the Secretary of State make regulations providing defenses to relevant offenses for persons whom the Secretary of State has authorized to carry out technology testing activities.
- If you test an AI model or other technology to investigate or test whether it can create prohibited material, section 111 gives you no defense to a relevant offense unless regulations provide one and you hold an authorization from the Secretary of State.
- Any authorization may carry conditions set in the regulations or by the Secretary of State, may be varied, suspended or withdrawn, and may be subject to fees, and the regulations may create fine-only offenses for breach of a condition.
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Sections 111 and 112 are an enabling power and a list of offenses; neither requires a person to keep or produce a log or record, although regulations made under them could attach conditions to an authorization.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Sections 111 and 112 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 give the Secretary of State a power to provide, by regulations, defenses to listed offenses for persons authorized to test technology. Section 111 came into force on . Section 112 came into force on . Under section 255(3)(c), sections 108 to 112 come into force at the end of the period of two months beginning with the day on which the Act is passed.
Section 111(1) provides that the Secretary of State may by regulations provide defenses to relevant offenses for persons who are authorized by the Secretary of State to carry out technology testing activities. The section therefore creates no defense by itself, and a defense exists only to the extent that regulations provide one.
Technology testing activities are activities carried out in the course of, or in connection with, testing technology to investigate whether it may have been made or adapted for use for creating, or facilitating the creation of, prohibited material, or to test whether it may be used to create, or facilitate the creation of, prohibited material. Prohibited material is anything in relation to which a relevant offense may be committed.
The regulations may make provision about authorizations, including conditions, variation, suspension and withdrawal, enforcement of breaches of conditions (which may include criminal offenses punishable with a fine) and fees payable to the Secretary of State to recover costs.
The Secretary of State must consult the Scottish Ministers, and the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland, before making regulations containing provision within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament or the Northern Ireland Assembly respectively, subject to the limits stated in the section.
Section 112(2) lists as relevant offenses, among others, offenses under section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and section 1(1)(a), (b) or (c) of the Protection of Children Act 1978, and in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 the offenses in section 46A, section 66B(1), section 66E(1) and section 66F(1) or (2). Section 112(3) lists the offense in section 52D of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 among the relevant offenses for Scotland.
Section 112(4) lists the offense in Article 42A of the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 among the relevant offenses for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State may by regulations amend section 112 so as to change the meaning of 'relevant offense'.
A Government supplementary delegated powers memorandum of , written when the clause was a proposed amendment to the Bill, describes the power as a 'Power to authorise technology such as AI models to be tested for prohibited material, without offences being committed in the course of the testing'.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app generates content with AI or trains models.