Tag: Children and Families

Britain will become the first country in the world where it is impossible for children to take, share or view naked pictures on their devices

Under the new plans, Big Tech companies like Apple and Google must activate built-in features or implement technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to detect and block nude images for children, the Prime Minister announced in a speech at London Tech Week yesterday (Monday 8 June).

This will prevent predators from being able to exploit and abuse victims through their devices, as well as stopping children from being able to access pornography. Adults will still be able to take, share or view nude content through an age verification process.

Now is the time for tech companies to step up and work with government to solve this horrific issue. If companies do not act within 3 months, the government will bring forward legislation to force them to activate the technology. This will include fines for companies. Nothing is off the table, and as a last resort we are exploring criminal liability for tech bosses who fail to comply.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “When it comes to the safety of our children, standing by is not an option. Nobody gets a free pass. That is why I’m making sure Britain is the first country in the world to make it impossible for children to take, share or view nude images.

“And I expect tech firms to make that happen. This is not an impossible challenge – these are some of the most innovative companies in the world. But if they choose not to, then we will act and change the law.”

The changes will apply to UK devices, including both existing and newly sold smartphones and tablets. Legislation could cover operating system providers and others in the supply chain, such as retailers, and will not affect the use of devices owned and used by adults who verify their age.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “As a society, we have not kept pace with the changing threats that children face. Abuse online is far too common, and we will not tolerate it.

“Tech companies have a moral duty to act, by making it impossible for children to take, share or view nude images. If they don’t, we will legislate.”

These measures build on progress already made in the UK. Since the publication of the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, Apple has already taken significant steps to combat this harm and shown the art of the possible, launching world-first features in the UK.

Apple recently introduced age checks for iPhone users, making it the first company to activate safety features by default for those who are not verified as over 18. This is a significant step forward following the government’s commitments to work with industry, and one this announcement builds on.

Despite this, the nudity detection is not applied to the camera or broader apps, third-party messaging services, or search functions, meaning children can still take, view, share and save nude images. The government therefore wants Apple and Google to block nudity across the whole device by default, so they can only be deactivated via age assurance.

Alongside the changes announced today, the consultation on children’s use of social media has now closed, with more than 100,000 responses received from parents, young people and experts. The government will publish its response soon and will continue working with international partners to tackle this shared global challenge to drive better protections for children online.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: “No parent should have to worry that giving their child a smartphone opens the door to abuse and exploitation.

“We are holding social media platforms to account and will soon announce our next steps to keep children safe online. But this doesn’t stop with platforms; the devices themselves are part of the problem – and they can be part of the solution.

“Companies should switch these protections on by default, for every child, on every device. We are giving them 3 months to show us that they will do the right thing.”

91% of online child sexual abuse reports recorded in 2024 contained self-generated content from children themselves and the average child now views pornography by age 13. The effects of this can have long lasting impacts on young people’s lives and contributes to abuse in younger relationships, with 39% of teenagers aged 13–17 experiencing emotional or physical abuse from a partner.

Child sexual abuse material and pornography are also increasing misogyny and the normalisation of harmful sexual behaviour. 52% of all child sexual abuse and exploitation cases involve children aged 10–17 offending against other children.

Chief Executive Officer of Internet Watch Foundation, Kerry Smith, said: “On-device protections are a pivotal part of coordinated, multi-layered approach to safeguarding children online.

“An alarming amount of child sexual abuse material, which our analysts see every day, is self-generated by children as a result of grooming, coercion or manipulation. We need device-level detection and blocking alongside platform-level protections.

“That is why we warmly welcome the government’s announcement and see these protections as playing a powerful role in a whole-system response to the threats children face in digital spaces.

“With nudity blocking in place, it will make it much harder to create new images and videos of child sexual abuse and better protect children from harms on the internet.”

Measures to protect children already exist within smartphones and tablets, but are applied inconsistently, often switched off by default and only blurring content rather than blocking it. But the government is working closely with technology companies – some of whom, like Apple, have already taken steps to implement protective features – to make this goal a reality.

Companies must introduce these measures without threatening privacy or collecting any data. The device should simply block harmful content across all apps and services. Over-18s will still be able to view adult content by providing proof of age.

British safety tech firm SafeToNet has shown this change is already achievable, with software that blocks nude content and prevents images being taken if the camera detects a child.

Richard Pursey, Chairman of SafeTo Net, said: “The government is right to act. Children have been failed for too long. This news will be welcomed by parents across the UK and hopefully, will inspire other countries to follow the UK’s lead.

“We can put an end to so much online misery with this approach. SafeToNet’s HarmBlock technology is a proven example that it is possible to make the device safe by default and not as some optional add-on.

“We have proven that with HarmBlock, on-device, tamperproof, embedded safeguards can prevent children from seeing, filming and broadcasting explicit content. It works in real-time including livestream and crucially also protects the privacy rights of the child as no data enters or leaves the application.

“Let’s be blunt: manufacturers have built devices capable of facilitating illegal, explicit, image-based harm to children. That’s the reality. But with this world-leading announcement we are finally shifting the battle ground of a child’s online safety to the device.”

The Online Safety Act was a landmark step forward in holding companies to account, but the government is clear that more must be done. Big Tech has the money and capability to put a stop to this. Online harms must be confronted with the same urgency as offline abuse.

This announcement makes clear that, in the modern world, the technology industry is central to this mission. Protecting children from sexual abuse should not be optional – it is a moral duty.

Roxy Longworth, author and founder of Behind Our Screens, said: “I told myself, back in 2021, that if I went public with what happened to me and it stopped one life from being ruined, then it was worth it, but the more I campaigned the angrier I became.

“Every child needs to be protected from platforms who for far too long have been allowed to turn a blind eye to the damage being done to them. This announcement makes me hopeful that there won’t be kids sat in their room feeling the same pressure and shame that consumed my teenage years.”

Sara Kirkpatrick CEO of Welsh Women’s Aid, said: “We are delighted to see proposals which require tech companies to design in safety rather than leaving the responsibility solely on parents and young people to ‘keep themselves safe’.

“We would call on the government to ensure that expectation, and regulation is coupled with monitoring and effective sanctions for non compliance.”

Chief Executive of the NSPCC, Chris Sherwood, said: “Online grooming, sexual exploitation and the proliferation of child sexual abuse material could be prevented if tech companies did the right thing and introduced nudity blocking technology on children’s phones.

“Every day these protections are not in place, more children will continue to face devastating harm in the online world. That’s why we strongly support the government’s decision to make it mandatory for these companies to block inappropriate material at device level. This marks a major step forward in our fight against online child sexual abuse.

“Time is up for Big Tech. Now government must focus on holding them to account to ensure this transformational change for young people’s safety is quickly delivered.”

Dr Elly Hanson, Strategy Director for CEASE, said: “Device level tech to prevent all children seeing, sending or receiving explicit imagery will be a total game changer in the battle against online child abuse and the harms of pornography.

“We wholeheartedly support the government’s demand on tech companies to roll this out, and see legislation that mandates it as the critical and necessary next step.

“For far too long, many thousands of people have sexually abused and extorted children online because tech companies have let them – giving them all the access and tools they need.

“In tandem pornography has further fuelled abuse and violated young people’s right to author a sexuality rooted in respect and connection. This tech will tackle both problems, bringing us a major step closer in ending this appalling profit-driven experiment on our children.”

Dame Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England, said: “One child seeing porn is one too many – but my research shows more than a quarter (27%) of young people who had seen porn said they had seen it online by 11.

“Tech firms have the power to turn it off but have dragged their feet. I fully support requiring devices to have Highly Effective Age Assurance and content-screening technology in place.

“This will create an additional layer of protection for children against the harmful content that we know is causing them harm. There are no silver bullets to making the online world safe, that’s why I also want to see platforms and services banned from accessing under 18s until they can prove they are safe. But device level protections are one thing that will meaningfully limit children’s access to harmful content.”

Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: “Far too many children are exposed to harmful sexual content online or are pressured into sharing sexual images.

“Barnardo’s research found that a quarter of all young people have seen a nude photo which was originally sent privately and then shared further – while around one in seven 13- to 15-year-old girls have been asked to share a nude photo of themselves. The impact of this can last a lifetime.

“This is a strong step from the government towards keeping children safe and we look forward to seeing how these proposals will work in practice. Good intentions are not enough, however, so they need to be backed up by strong regulation and enforcement – as well as keeping pace with how quickly online harms evolve.

“It is absolutely vital that the focus also remains on protecting children, not criminalising them. Any system must make sure that children who share images are supported, not shamed, and that strong reporting and safeguarding mechanisms are in place.

“Online or offline, child safety must come first. Technology companies need to build it in from the start.”

Lawrence Jordan, Marie Collins Foundation CEO, said: “At the Marie Collins Foundation, we see first-hand the devastating and lasting impact that online grooming, sexual extortion and image-based abuse can have on children, young people and their families.

“For many victims and survivors, the harm does not end when the abuse itself ends – whether through the fear that images may continue to circulate, or the lasting impact abuse can have on mental health, relationships and a person’s sense of safety and trust.

“We strongly welcome the government’s focus on device-level protections. For too long, much of our response to online harm has come after abuse has already occurred.

“Technology companies have repeatedly shown they can solve complex challenges when they choose to prioritise them. Protecting children should be one of those priorities. Companies now have an opportunity – and a moral responsibility – to ensure the digital environments children use every day are safe for them to participate in.”

David Wright CBE, CEO of SWGfL and UK Safer Internet Centre Director, said: “This is an important and ambitious step in recognising the scale of harm children face online, particularly as sexual abuse and exploitation are increasingly linked to self-generated imagery.

“We have seen positive progress from parts of the technology sector in recent years, but more must be done to ensure a consistent and high standard of protection for all children across devices and services. Raising the baseline of safety across the digital ecosystem is essential.

“As these proposals develop, it will be important to ensure they are effective in practice, proportionate, and implemented in ways that maintain trust, particularly in relation to privacy and the needs of victims.

“At SWGfL, we look forward to continuing to work with government and industry to ensure protections are victim-focused and genuinely reduce harm.”

Dr Alexandra Bailey, Head of Psychology at child protection charity Lucy Faithfull Foundation and Associate Professor at the University of Roehampton, says: “Our work with both adults and young people tells us how damaging exposure to sexual content online can be at a young age, and therefore we welcome the government’s announcement [today] on stronger online protections for children.

“We see firsthand how sending and receiving nudes, and early exposure to pornography, can cause real harm in young people’s lives, leaving them vulnerable to grooming, exploitation or viewing illegal, harmful content themselves. Through our anonymous Shore live chat service, we support young people navigating these issues every day.

“In our work with adults whose pornography use has become problematic and escalated into harmful or illegal behaviour, many tell us this developed over time and often began with exposure at a young age.

“What begins as curiosity can shift over time. People can become desensitised to mainstream content and seek out more extreme material, sometimes crossing into illegal territory without fully realising the consequences. This is one of the most common pathways to online child sexual abuse we see on our anonymous Stop It Now helpline.

“If you’re concerned about what you or someone else has seen or done online, contact Shore or Stop It Now for anonymous and confidential support.”

Soma Sara, CEO of Everyone’s Invited, said: “At Everyone’s Invited, we welcome this announcement. Over the past 5 years, through our education programmes in schools across the UK, we have witnessed a significant increase in the sharing and creation of child sexual abuse material online, alongside rapidly evolving technologies that are amplifying harm.

“For too long, the responsibility has fallen disproportionately on children and young people to protect themselves from the non-consensual sharing of images and other forms of online abuse. The burden must now shift to the platforms and services that enable and profit from digital engagement.

“With the continued rise in child sexual abuse material, the time to act is now. We urge technology companies, platform providers, and those who work with them to treat this announcement as a foundation rather than a finish line and to proactively go further in strengthening safeguards for children.

“The emergence of AI-enabled harms and increasing access to violent pornography are accelerating risks and normalising harmful behaviours. Addressing these challenges requires sustained action, stronger accountability, and a clear commitment from all of us to put children’s safety first.”

Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, comments: “Despite it being a criminal offence to create or share explicit images of a child, the reality is that sharing nude images is still prevalent among children and young people, with many feeling coerced into doing so.

“Under no circumstances should coercive control and pressure be applied to a child to share intimate images of themselves and we welcome any measures that will make the taking and sharing of such images more difficult.

“This form of abuse is just as real, and just as damaging to the wellbeing of children and young people as other forms of violence against women and children – it is high time that technology companies are held to account and do more to ensure that the most vulnerable of their users are safe.”

Sara Kirkpatrick, CEO of Welsh Women’s Aid, said: “We are delighted to see proposals which require tech companies to design in safety rather than leaving the responsibility solely on parents and young people to ‘keep themselves safe’.

“We would call on the government to ensure that expectation, and regulation is coupled with monitoring and effective sanctions for non compliance.”