The UK government has announced plans to introduce legislation requiring technology companies to prevent children from creating, viewing or sharing nude images on their devices. The move follows disappointing progress from Apple and Google, which were given a three-month deadline in June to implement such protections voluntarily.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Members of Parliament on Tuesday that despite "significant commitments" from both firms, their current proposals fall short of addressing what she described as a crisis. She stated that ministers would pursue legislation "as soon as they can," though the government remains open to reassessing this timeline if companies develop and deploy adequate solutions faster.
The government's draft legislation will require technology firms to implement device-level blocks on nudity for users under 18, and will also mandate that app developers serving children introduce comparable safeguards. According to the government's formal statement, this comprehensive approach aims to transform the entire digital ecosystem through which children are most frequently abused or groomed online.
Nandy acknowledged that Apple and Google had already made "meaningful changes" to their core systems to block nudity on children's devices, but stressed that additional action remained essential. The government previously stated that Britain would become the first country where it is impossible for children to take, share or view naked pictures on their devices, and warned that companies could face legislation, fines and potentially criminal liability if they failed to comply.
An Apple representative confirmed that the company launched its Communication Safety feature in 2021 to help prevent children from viewing or sharing imagery containing nudity, and has continuously expanded its capabilities since then. The company stated:
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.
Google representatives told a national broadcaster that the company is an "industry leader in combating non-consensual intimate imagery and advancing child safety across our products". They indicated that Google had made progress and remained committed to ongoing efforts to protect children online.
Why this action matters for child safety
Child protection organisations and charities have welcomed the government's decision to pursue legislation after tech firms failed to meet the original deadline. Data from Ofcom indicates that smartphone ownership among younger children in the UK is growing, with ownership rates increasing significantly with age. According to children's charity the NSPCC, content created on a child's own device frequently serves as the entry point for grooming, sexual extortion and other forms of online child sexual abuse.
UK police leaders have previously identified restricting children's ability to create or share nude images as a crucial step in preventing sextortion—crimes in which children are manipulated into sharing explicit material and subsequently blackmailed. Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the NSPCC, described the government's legislative plans as a "necessary move" following the tech firms' failure to meet the three-month deadline. However, he stressed:
Children cannot face more delays, so Government must act swiftly and ensure these measures are enshrined in law at the earliest opportunity.
Andy Burrows of the Molly Rose Foundation acknowledged that the new proposals were "fundamental to their objective," but noted that the path to securing them had been "a needlessly long and torturous road." He added:
Ministers will need to demonstrate they are committed to delivering robust legislation without further delay.
How does this connect to earlier government action?
The push to prevent children from creating and sharing nude images was originally incorporated into the government's violence against women and girls strategy, though it faced criticism from within government ranks for slow implementation. In June, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urged Apple and Google to implement these protections within three months, signalling that legislation would follow if voluntary measures proved insufficient.
The government's initiative also reflects broader concerns about online child safety. The National Crime Agency has warned parents against publicly sharing children's images online due to rising risks of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, highlighting the multifaceted nature of threats children face in digital spaces.
What are the privacy concerns?
Implementation of these protections raises questions about how technology companies will verify whether a device user is an adult or a child. Online rights campaigners at the Open Rights Group have previously warned that such measures could mean "every adult would be forced through a digital ID checkpoint, and private images could be scanned by default". The government has denied that the move would constitute surveillance, though the technical mechanisms for age verification remain a subject of debate.
The proposed legislation would not prevent adults from accessing nude imagery on their devices; rather, it would restrict such access specifically for users identified as minors. The challenge of implementing age-appropriate restrictions without compromising adult privacy or enabling invasive scanning practices represents a significant technical and policy consideration.
What happens next
The government has committed to introducing primary legislation in Parliament to require major technology platforms to build device-level protections for children. Nandy stated that the legislation will be brought to Parliament "as soon as we can", though no specific date has been announced. The government will also require apps used by children to prevent access to or sharing of nudity as part of the same legislative framework.
Child safety advocates have called on ministers to move swiftly through the legislative process to avoid further delays. The government's approach signals a shift toward mandatory technical requirements rather than relying on voluntary industry compliance, marking a significant escalation in regulatory oversight of how technology companies handle child safety.
Key Facts
- The government will introduce legislation requiring tech firms to block nude images on devices used by children under 18
- Apple and Google were given three months from June to implement voluntary protections but their proposals were deemed insufficient
- The legislation will apply both to device-level protections and to apps used by children
- Child protection charities have welcomed the move but called for swift parliamentary action to avoid further delays
- The government has denied that age verification mechanisms would constitute surveillance
