Apple and Google have been given until September to install software that blocks explicit images on children’s mobile phones or face legislation to force them to do so, Keir Starmer said on Monday.
The prime minister said tech companies must activate nudity-detection algorithms or other technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to prevent users taking photos or sharing images of genitalia unless they are verified as adults.
If businesses do not comply within three months, legislation will be brought forward requiring the protection to be added to all phones and tablets sold in the UK. Tech firms that fail to do so could face fines, and their senior managers could be made criminally liable.
Last month Jess Phillips quit her post as safeguarding minister, claiming that Starmer had failed to introduce changes to halt the ability of children in the UK to take naked images of themselves.
However, some Labour MPs told the prime minister to “stop asking” the tech firms to make changes and legislate instead.
Speaking at London Tech Week on Monday, Starmer said the plan meant the UK would become the first country in the world to make it impossible for children to take, share or view nude images.
“Today, I am calling on tech companies operating in this country to introduce vice controls that prevent children from sending and receiving sexually explicit images. Because this is not an impossible challenge,” he said.
“If they choose not, then we will act and we will change the law.”
The announcement has been driven by an explosion in child sexual abuse referrals. The UK’s National Crime Agency receives 1,700 referrals every week. Last year nine in 10 child abuse images were generated by children, many of whom had been tricked or blackmailed by abusers they had met on the internet.
Online grooming cases have risen to 7,000 a year in the UK, with organised criminal gangs and social media sites profiting from the sale and exchange of images and footage of abuse.
Under the changes, sexual predators will be prevented from being able to exploit and abuse victims through their devices, and children stopped from being able to access pornography, the Home Office said. Adults will still be able to take, share or view nude content once they have verified their age.
In the Commons, Melanie Ward, the Labour MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, said: “It’s time to stop asking social media companies to make their products safe, and instead time to start requiring them to do so through regulation.”
Clive Efford, the Labour MP for Eltham and Chislehurst, said the “sociopaths” running social media platforms had no concern for the welfare of children. “The only message that they’re going to listen to is if there’s legislation put before this house that is going to act and send a clear message to them.”
The proposal is designed to sit alongside the Online Safety Act, which requires companies to have processes for removing material that is illegal or harmful to children.
Neither Apple nor Google offers a nudity-blocking system that works across the entire operating system.
Apple is introducing age checks for iPhone and iPad users in the UK which ask them to verify if they are adults to access certain services such as 18-plus apps. Users who do not confirm their age or are underage will have web content filters turned on automatically.
Last year, Google introduced measures to detect and blur nude images and issue warnings when a child attempts to open, send or forward them.
Whitehall sources said that while the Home Office was “100%” behind the proposal, there were concerns that the Treasury could be susceptible to lobbying from tech companies with the promise of extra investment.
One insider questioned whether the “tech bros in No 10” – a reference to advisers to Starmer – would also try to curb the plans.
Phillips welcomed the proposed legislation, but added: “The government needs to be incredibly clear about its red lines when drawing up new rules to stop children from from taking, sharing or viewing nude images. It cannot be squeamish and end up taking its red lines from tech companies. And they need to now begin preparing robust legislation in case of failure in three months’ time.”
Civil liberties groups have expressed concerns that tech companies will introduce changes that threaten anonymity and privacy. Silkie Carlo, the director of Big Brother Watch, said the plans could “invoke the death of anonymity and internet privacy”.
Google said: “Google is deeply committed to protecting children online. We are working constructively with UK partners to find effective, privacy-preserving solutions that deter the spread of harmful content while ensuring a safe digital environment for young people.”
