UK pledges to force phone makers to block nude images for children at the UN
Key Points
- The UK pledged at the UN to block nude images on children's phones by 2031
- Minister Alex Davies-Jones said the government would legislate if required
- The Home Office gave Apple and Google a three-month ultimatum in June
- Both firms have since made operating-system changes to block nude images
- The UK will also launch a call for evidence on image-based abuse
The UK has pledged to make phone and tablet makers stop children viewing nude images by 2031.
Alex Davies-Jones, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, made the commitment in the UK’s national statement at the United Nations Crime Congress in Abu Dhabi on 27 September. The Ministry of Justice published the transcript on Monday (28 September).
The UK committed to introducing effective protections on phones and tablets that stop children taking, sharing or viewing nude images. Davies-Jones said the government would legislate to secure compliance if required.
The pledge was one of six commitments the UK made for the period between 2026 and 2031. The UK also committed to launching a call for evidence on online misogynistic image-based abuse, to identify new harms and how to respond to them.
Davies-Jones told delegates that the UK would host a side event on technology-facilitated violence against women and girls during the congress. She also said that almost every serious criminal investigation now relies on digital evidence.
The pledge follows a Home Office push that began in December 2025. The Financial Times reported at the time that officials wanted operating systems to block all nudity on screen until the user proved they were an adult with a biometric check or official ID.
Officials looked at making the controls compulsory for all devices sold in the UK, but chose not to at the time. The newspaper reported that the plans would likely draw objections from privacy and civil liberties groups, along with doubts over whether they would work.
The Home Office took a harder line in June 2026. It gave Apple and Google three months to switch on tools that detect and block nude images on children’s phones and tablets, or face new laws requiring them.
Earlier this month, the government said Apple and Google had made significant commitments following a joint work programme with the Home Office that started in June.
It said both firms had made changes at the operating-system level that make it harder for children to share nude images, including blocking rather than blurring them on underage devices. The government also pointed to Apple’s rollout of age checks built into its operating system this year, which stop children sending or receiving nude images on iMessage and FaceTime.
Apple told Bloomberg that it backed the UK’s efforts to tackle online exploitation and abuse, and had shown officials its plans to expand Communication Safety and other child protection tools.
Apple launched Communication Safety in 2021 as a parental control that detects photos and videos containing nudity or violence before a child can view or send them. The feature now also works in third-party apps.
Google offers parental controls through Family Link and shows sensitive content warnings in Google Messages.
The government cited Internet Watch Foundation figures showing that children take 91% of these images themselves. Offenders use the images for blackmail and sexual extortion, and around 9,000 child sexual abuse offences each year involve an online element.
