Tougher Google and search rules coming for the UK
Key Points
- Ofcom has confirmed new rules requiring Google, Bing and other large UK search and social platforms to use hash matching technology to detect intimate image abuse.
- Providers are expected to use StopNCII.org or an equivalent database, with the rules covering services that have more than 7 million monthly UK users, plus smaller high-risk services with more than 700,000.
- Google joined StopNCII in September 2025, a year after Microsoft integrated the tool into Bing, where a pilot acted on 268,899 images.
- The measure covers AI-generated intimate image abuse and deepfakes, alongside separate UK laws banning nudification tools and requiring 48-hour takedowns.
- The amendments are expected to come into force in autumn 2026, subject to the Parliamentary process.
Google and Microsoft’s Bing will have to use automated detection technology to scan UK search results for non-consensual intimate images under new rules from communications regulator Ofcom.
The regulator published its statement on Monday (18 May), confirming that large general search services with more than seven million monthly UK users must deploy hash matching technology to detect intimate image abuse before users encounter it.
The rules also cover large user-to-user services including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Snapchat and X, alongside pornography services and file-sharing platforms that carry a high risk of intimate image abuse.
Smaller, high-risk services with more than 700,000 monthly UK users will also need to comply.
Ofcom expects providers to use StopNCII.org or an equivalent database. UK charity South West Grid for Learning runs the service, which lets adults generate digital fingerprints of intimate images on their own devices and shares those hashes with participating platforms to block matching uploads. The image itself never leaves the user’s device.
Google joined StopNCII in September 2025, a year after Microsoft integrated the tool into Bing.
Microsoft has reported that its pilot with StopNCII identified and acted on 268,899 images returned in Bing image search results. Other participating platforms include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Bumble, Snapchat, OnlyFans and X.
The measure also covers AI-generated intimate image abuse, including deepfakes, because hash matching detects known images regardless of how each one was created.
UK Parliament has separately banned nudification tools that turn images of real people into fake nude pictures, and criminalised the creation of non-consensual sexual deepfakes.
Recorded intimate image abuse offences in England and Wales rose 26.9% between June 2022 and June 2025, according to figures cited by Ofcom.
The Revenge Porn Helpline took more than 22,000 reports in 2024, with 98% of victims women and 69% aged between 18 and 34. The helpline refers around 60% of clients to mental health support services because of the impact of their experiences.
Ofcom expects the amendments to its Illegal Content Codes to come into force in autumn 2026, subject to the Parliamentary process. The regulator will publish its decisions on the remaining additional safety measures from its June 2025 consultation around the same time.
It should be noted that hash matching does not work universally. Non-partner sites can still display flagged content, and the system relies on victims having a copy of the image themselves to generate a hash.
The technology also cannot detect intimate images that have never been hashed, which limits its effectiveness against newly generated AI deepfakes.
