Big changes coming to iPhones and Android phones in the UK
Key Points
- UK government will legislate to force device-level child protections on iPhones and Android phones
- Apple and Google's proposals since June do not meet the scale of the problem, Nandy told MPs
- Apps used by children will also be required to block access to and sharing of nudity
- Legislation may be dropped if the companies implement technical solutions first
- Adults who verify their age will not be affected by the blocks
The UK government will legislate to force Apple and Google to build child protections into iPhones and Android devices, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Parliament on Tuesday (8 September).
Nandy said in a statement to the House of Commons that the two companies had made significant commitments since June, but that their proposals fell short of what the government wanted.
The government set Apple and Google a three-month deadline in June to show how they would stop children taking, sharing or viewing nude images on phones and tablets. Ministers said at the time that they would change the law if the companies did not act voluntarily.
Officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Home Office have worked with senior leaders and engineers at both companies since then.
Nandy said both firms had developed changes at the operating system level to make it harder for children to share nude imagery. She added that the government had seen progress on blocking such images outright on underage devices rather than blurring them.
Apple rolled out age assurance at the operating system level earlier this year, which stops a child from receiving or sharing nude images on iMessage or FaceTime. Google’s Messages app offers an optional sensitive content warning that detects and blurs images which may contain nudity, using its on-device SafetyCore service.
“These proposals are a step in the right direction. However, the truth is they do not meet the scale of this crisis,” said Nandy.
What the new law will do
The government will introduce primary legislation requiring major tech platforms to build device-level protections for children into their products. Nandy said the bill would come to Parliament as soon as possible, but gave no date.
If Apple and Google implement technical solutions while the government drafts the bill, ministers will reassess whether legislation is still necessary.
The government will also require apps that children use to prevent them from accessing or sharing nudity. Nandy said her department would explore what legislation this needs, with a view to moving as quickly as possible.
“Put simply, we will give tech companies the chance to lead – we will not give them the chance to lag,” said Nandy.
Ministers said in June that adults who verify their age would not be affected by the blocks, and that the technology would run on the device without collecting data or monitoring users.
Nandy said the measures would make Britain the first country in the world to go this far on online safety.
The Internet Watch Foundation believes 91% of child sexual abuse images are self-generated by children themselves. Around 9,000 child sexual abuse offences each year involve an online element, and under-18s are the subject of almost a quarter of online blackmail cases.
Nandy said children were being groomed, coerced and manipulated into creating and sharing intimate images across online services, which offenders then used for blackmail and sexual extortion.
