UK Prime Minister Calls on Tech Firms to Block Children Sharing Explicit Images

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on 8 June that technology companies must introduce controls to stop children from sending and receiving sexually explicit images on smartphones. The government set a three-month deadline for the measures. If companies do not comply, officials will introduce legislation to require the changes.

Apple’s iOS includes a Sensitive Content Warning that scans images sent through its Messaging and AirDrop services and blurs those containing nudity. The feature runs on-device machine-learning models and activates by default for child accounts. Google’s Android system offers a similar warning for images sent via Google Messages.

Both tools operate only within the companies’ own services and do not scan images at the moment they are taken.

Extending the systems to third-party apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Signal, and X would require access to content inside applications the operating-system providers do not control. The tools also depend on phones running recent software versions; roughly 10 percent of iOS devices and 5 percent of Android devices worldwide cannot use them.

Both companies require parents to set up child accounts manually, so the protections are not applied automatically to all devices used by minors.

The government wants the companies to apply the detection tools to the phone camera and to third-party apps, allowing explicit images only after users complete age-assurance checks. Similar age-verification requirements already apply to adult websites under the Online Safety Act introduced in July 2025.

A Google spokesperson said the company is working with UK partners on privacy-preserving solutions that deter harmful content while protecting young users. Apple did not respond to a request for comment before publication.