Apple and Google Miss Deadline to Block Child Nudity on Their Phones in the UK

UK Government Sets Deadline, Apple and Google Fail to Comply

In June, the UK government gave Big Tech three months to make taking, viewing, or sharing images of child nudity on their devices impossible. Then prime minister Keir Starmer stated: "I expect tech firms to make that happen. But if they choose not to, then we will act and change the law."

That deadline arrived on Tuesday, and the government says that companies like Apple and Google have failed to meet it.

New Legislation

As a result, the UK government plans to introduce what it claims will be world-first legislation. Lisa Nandy, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media, and sport, told lawmakers on Tuesday as she introduced the legislation:

"They do not meet the scale of this crisis."

Under the new plan:

• Companies failing to build child protection solutions into all existing and newly sold smartphones and tablets in the UK would face fines.
• Company bosses could face potential criminal liability.

Nandy added: "We know that this is a sector that can-when required-innovate at an extraordinary pace when the chips are down."

Nandy also plans to explore placing similar legal requirements on apps used by children, such as Instagram and Snapchat. Neither Meta nor Snap immediately responded to a request for comment.

Reactions

Support:

Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said: "Apple and Google needed to urgently introduce these protections to ensure online sexual abuse is disrupted and prevented on children's devices. Now the deadline is up, government must crack down and legislate."

Nandy also stated: "For too long, technology companies have failed to protect children from the worst harms, and to be frank, I am not prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt that progress will continue at the pace we need it to while harm is being done now."

She noted, however, that she would reassess whether legislation is necessary if platforms implement solutions while it is being drawn up.

Opposition:

Not everyone supports the measures, which would not impact adults who have verified their age. In June, messaging app Signal accused the UK government of using the measures to rush "invisible surveillance infrastructure" into law. Signal warned that forcing UK residents to prove their age and have their content scanned in the name of child safety could be a slippery slope into wider surveillance.

Statements from Apple and Google

Apple:

"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."

An Apple spokesperson pointed to its Communication Safety feature, launched in 2021, which blurs photos or videos detected to contain nudity on a child's device.

Google:

"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."

A Google spokesperson said their team is committed to the effort.

Global Context

Governments taking more extreme measures to protect children from online harms have been met with backlash over privacy and other digital rights:

• In the European Union, civil rights activists opposed extended legislation allowing tech firms to voluntarily scan users' private messages for child sexual abuse material.
• Elon Musk's X complained that the information-gathering powers imposed by Australia's social media ban risk interfering with international law.

Additional Government Plans

Nandy also said the government was considering going further with its sweeping social media ban for children under 16, which was announced earlier this year and remains on track to go into effect in spring 2027. She is also looking at strengthening the law around AI chatbots to protect children on those platforms.

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