The Government has said major tech platforms, including Apple and Google, will be forced by law to make it impossible for children to take, share or view nude images. The tech giants had been given a three-month ultimatum in June to either detect and block nude images for children or face legislation forcing them to act.
With virtually all smartphones sold in the UK either running on Apple or Google operating systems, the two companies are the face of the changes that have not yet “met the scale of the crisis.”
Government commits to primary legislation
Digital Secretary Lisa Nandy said while tech giants had made some “meaningful changes” in the meantime, “they do not meet the scale of this crisis”, adding she is “almost certain” legislation will be needed.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, she said: “Children are facing unacceptable levels of sexual harm online – they are being groomed, coerced, and manipulated into creating and sharing intimate images across online services.”
The Cabinet minister told the Commons the Government is “today committing to introducing primary legislation to require major tech platforms to build in device-level protections for children”. She said this would be brought in “as soon as we can”, but also appeared to indicate the plan could be dropped if tech firms “develop and implement technical solutions” while policy development work takes place.
Progress over the last three months
Pressed further on the speed at which legislation might be introduced to Parliament, she told MPs: “Well, frankly, if we were able to reach a situation very quickly, which we should be able to do with the right will, where children were not able to take or share nude images, then the problem would be solved.
“But I have to say, based on what I’ve seen in terms of progress over the last three months, I think it is almost certain that we will be legislating in this area.”
According to data from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the vast majority (91%) of online child sexual abuse reports recorded in 2024 contained content generated by children themselves. The IWF said in some cases, children are groomed, deceived or coerced into producing and sharing a sexual image or video of themselves.
Device-level protections and age assurance
Ms Nandy also announced that the Government will require that accessing or sharing nudity is prevented “as soon as possible” on apps used by children. She said: “We will explore what legislation is needed to implement this commitment, with a view to moving as quickly as possible.
“This will ensure that the whole ecosystem changes, tackling the means by which children are most often abused or groomed in the online world.”
She said the protections would make Britain “a world leader in online safety”. Echoing this, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said his Government will “hold (tech firms) to account and will not hesitate to change the law”, adding that Britain will be the first to enforce default protections on devices “and we will have the strongest child safety laws in the world”.
The new law would require naked images to be blocked across all device features, including the camera and third-party apps, with users only able to access such images if they are able to verify they are more than 18 through “robust” age-assurance.
Enforcement and international cooperation
Asked about how the new rules will be enforced, Ms Nandy said: “We’re looking particularly at the making and selling of devices here in the UK that don’t have this technology enabled to prevent children from taking and sharing nude images.”
Labour former minister Jess Phillips warned that “when we remove the UK market, we will send it somewhere else in the world” as she urged the Secretary of State to “work with partners across the world to make sure that while we lead the world, we’re not standing alone for too long”.
Ms Nandy said the Government has “not hesitated to reach out to like-minded governments across the world to see what more we can do together”. She added: “There are many governments now acting more decisively, stepping up and recognising that the development of new forms of technology, and the regulation of new forms of technology, cannot be left to the private sector alone.”
Labour former technology secretary Liz Kendall pressed for a timetable on previous commitments made on AI chatbots, curfews overnight and a ban on doom-scrolling for older children. Ms Nandy said she was “not in a position to do that now” but pledged to come back to Ms Kendall “with a firm timetable”. “I don’t think we’ll be in a position to do the whole package by the end of the year, but I would be very disappointed if we hadn’t made enormous progress by then,” she added.
Ms Nandy also told MPs she was “not envisaging imposing penalties on parents” who let their children use or borrow devices without built-in protections, as part of the legislation. She said unlocking device features intended for adults will require users “to have a form of ID” to prove how old they are. “One of the lessons that we’ve learned from looking at what happened in Australia is that unless you do that, most children will find a way round,” she added.
Industry and charity response
A Google spokesperson said: “Google has been an industry leader in combating non-consensual intimate imagery and advancing child safety across our products and services. We are pleased to have made progress and are fully committed to continuing to work with experts, legislators, app developers and device manufacturers to keep children safe, while also protecting privacy and access to information.”
An Apple spokesperson said: “Apple launched its groundbreaking communication safety feature in 2021 to help prevent children from viewing or sharing photos or videos that contain nudity. Since then, we’ve continued to expand its capabilities, including providing third-party support. We share the UK’s commitment to combating exploitation and abuse online, and have shared with UK officials future plans to strengthen communication safety and other tools even further to help keep kids safe.”
The IWF said it was “pleased that the Government is now taking decisive legislative action to keep children safe,” adding that: “Preventing this at source will have an outsized impact on our children’s safety.”
Chris Sherwood from the NSPCC said: “Children cannot face more delays, so Government must act swiftly and ensure these measures are enshrined in law at the earliest opportunity.”
