In June, the UK government gave Big Tech companies three months to prevent the taking, viewing and sharing of nude images of children on smartphones and tablets sold in the country. “We hope that technology companies will make it happen,” then-chancellor Keir Starmer said at the time. “But if they choose not to do so, we will take action and change the law.”
That deadline expired on Tuesday, but the government says companies including Apple and Google have failed to introduce adequate protections. Ministers now plan to amend UK law with what they describe as the world’s first legislation requiring child-safety measures on all new and existing smartphones and tablets.
Engineers at Apple and Google have worked with the government since June to develop solutions. However, Lisa Nandy, secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, told MPs while introducing the bill that the companies’ efforts “do not meet the scale of this crisis.”
Under the proposed UK smartphone safety law, companies that fail to include child-protection tools on devices sold in Britain could face substantial fines, while senior executives could face criminal charges. “We know this is an area where we can innovate at an incredible pace when the chips are down, if we need to,” Nandy said.
Nandy is also considering extending similar legal requirements to apps used by children, including Instagram and Snapchat. Neither Meta nor Snap immediately responded to requests for comment.
“For too long, technology companies have failed to protect our children from the worst harms,” Nandy said. She added that the government would not wait while children continued to face abuse online. However, she said ministers would reassess the need for the bill if technology companies introduced an effective solution while the legislation was being developed.
“Apple and Google urgently needed to put these protections in place to ensure online sexual abuse is stopped and prevented on children’s devices,” said Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the National Coalition for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. “The deadline has passed and the government must crack down and legislate.”
The proposed measures have also faced criticism from privacy advocates. The rules would not affect adults who have verified their age. Encrypted messaging app Signal accused the British government of using child safety as a reason to rush through legislation creating an “invisible surveillance infrastructure.” Signal warned that requiring people in the UK to prove their age and scan content could create a pathway to broader online surveillance.
Apple said it was working with the British government to improve child safety. “We share the UK’s commitment to combating online exploitation and abuse, and we have shared with UK authorities our future plans to further strengthen Communication Safety and other tools to keep children safe,” an Apple spokesperson told WIRED. The company cited its Communication Safety feature, introduced in 2021 to blur photos and videos detected as containing nudity on children’s devices.
A Google spokesperson said the company was “pleased with the progress” made so far and remained committed to working with experts, lawmakers, app developers and device manufacturers to protect children while safeguarding privacy and access to information.
Governments around the world are adopting tougher measures to protect children from online harm, but the policies have triggered backlash from privacy and digital-rights groups. In the European Union, civil liberties activists opposed expanding a proposal that would allow technology companies to voluntarily scan users’ private messages for child sexual abuse material. Elon Musk’s X has also argued that intelligence-gathering powers linked to Australia’s social media ban could interfere with international law.
In the UK, Nandy said the government was considering additional measures, including a possible nationwide social media ban for children under 16. The policy was announced earlier this year and is expected to take effect in spring 2027. Ministers are also considering stronger rules for AI chatbots to protect children who use the platforms.
Source: www.wired.com