UK Prime Minister Tells Tech Firms to Block Explicit Images on Devices Used by Children or Face New Law

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on 8 June called on technology companies to introduce controls within three months that prevent children in the UK from creating and sharing explicit images of themselves on devices. Starmer stated that if companies do not act, the government will change the law.

The demand targets features already present on Apple and Google devices but seeks to expand them to third-party apps and device cameras.

Apple’s Sensitive Content Warning detects nudity in images or videos sent or received through its Messaging or AirDrop systems and blurs them. The feature runs on-device machine-learning models and is turned on by default for child accounts, though it requires iOS 17 or later. Around 10 per cent of devices worldwide do not meet that requirement.

Google’s Sensitive Content Warnings uses on-device machine learning to detect nudity in images sent via Google Messages and is enabled by default for child accounts. The system does not work for video and is available only on Android 9 or later, leaving about 5 per cent of devices worldwide unable to use it. The UK Online Safety Act was introduced in July 2025.

Starmer said the new measures would allow explicit images only when users prove their age through age-assurance services.