Apple and Google have been handed an ultimatum by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer: install software that blocks explicit images on children's mobile phones by September, or brace for legislation that will force them to do it anyway. Speaking at London Tech Week on Monday, Starmer declared that tech companies must activate nudity-detection algorithms or other technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to prevent users from taking or sharing photos of genitalia unless they're verified as adults. If the companies don't comply within three months, the government will bring forward a law requiring the protection on all phones and tablets sold in the UK.
This announcement comes a month after Jess Phillips resigned as safeguarding minister, claiming Starmer had failed to act on her proposals to halt children taking naked images of themselves. Starmer positioned the plan as a world first: "For too long, people have been told that [children sharing explicit images] is simply the price of modern tech - that nothing could be done. That government is powerless. That parents just have to accept it. I reject that completely because tech should adapt to the needs of society, not the other way round." The Home Office chimed in, promising that sexual predators will be prevented from exploiting victims through their devices, and children stopped from accessing pornography. Adults, of course, will still be able to take, share, or view nude content through an age verification process, because nothing says "responsible adult" like a passcode.
Ministers have praised HMD Global for introducing a device aimed at children with HarmBlock software, produced by UK company SafeToNet, which automatically detects and blocks explicit imagery. Meanwhile, Apple and Google's existing sensitive content warnings can be overridden by entering a passcode - a feature that seems designed to test the resolve of tech-savvy ten-year-olds. Neither company offers a nudity-blocking system that works across the entire operating system, including apps like WhatsApp or Telegram. The proposal sits alongside the Online Safety Act, which requires companies to remove material illegal or harmful to children. There's growing speculation that Starmer will opt for an "Australian-plus" model with a ban on a wider range of sites, restrictions on "addictive" features, and tougher age checks to prevent kids circumventing the rules.
Starmer is said to be carving out policies to secure his "legacy" as he faces a potential leadership challenge from Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor who is favourite to return to parliament in the Makerfield byelection on 18 June. Phillips, in her resignation letter, was less than impressed: "Over a year ago I presented solutions, long worked on by brilliant civil servants, that would end the ability for children in the UK to take naked images of themselves. We could stop this abuse. It has taken me a year to get you to agree to even threaten to legislate in this space. Not legislate, just threaten. This is the definition of incremental change."