Apple and Google Miss Deadline to Block Child Nudity on Their Phones in the UK

Apple and Google Miss Deadline to Block Child Nudity on Their Phones in the UK. “But if they choose not to, then we will act and change the law. ”That deadline arrived on Tuesday, and the government says that the likes of Apple and Google have failed.

What happened

“Apple and Google needed to urgently introduce these protections to ensure online sexual abuse is disrupted and prevented on children’s devices,” says Chris Sherwood, chief executive of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. “We share the UK’s commitment to combating exploitation and abuse online and have shared with UK officials future plans to strengthen Communication Safety and other tools even further to help keep kids safe,” an Apple spokesperson tells WIRED in a statement, pointing to its Communication Safety feature launched in 2021, which blurs photos or videos detected to contain nudity on a child's device.

CommentsBack to topJoin the discussionCommentsBack to topYou Might Also LikeIn your inbox: WIRED's most ambitious, future-defining storiesAI slop backlash is actually having an impactBig Story: The cop who took on FlockThe rise of the 1am job interviewWatch: I stole a car by hacking this hidden deviceTopicsUKSocial NetworksprivacyappleGoogleSnapchatInstagramchildrensecurityMeta Failed to Catch Hundreds of AI Child Abuse Ads. Skip to main contentSave this storySave this storyIn June, the UK government told Big Tech it had three months to make taking, viewing, or sharing images of child nudity on their devices impossible.

While engineers from Apple and Google had been working with the government since June to make changes, “they do not meet the scale of this crisis,” Lisa Nandy, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media, and sport, told lawmakers on Tuesday as she introduced the legislation. Under the new plan, companies failing to build the child protection solutions into all existing and newly sold smartphones and tablets in the UK would face fines and potential criminal liability for their bosses.

A Google spokesperson says in a statement that their team is “pleased to have made progress and are fully committed to continuing to work with experts, legislators, app developers and device manufacturers to keep children safe, while also protecting privacy and access to information. ”Globally, governments taking more extreme measures to protect children from online harms have been met with backlash over privacy and other digital rights.

The wider picture

Nandy also plans to explore placing similar legal requirements on apps used by children, like Instagram and Snapchat. “For too long, technology companies have failed to protect children from the worst harms,” Nandy said, “and to be frank, I am not prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt that progress will continue at the pace we need it to while harm is being done now. ” Still, she said she would reassess whether legislation is necessary if platforms implement solutions while it is being drawn up.

“Now the deadline is up, government must crack down and legislate. ”Not everyone is so keen on the measures, which would not impact adults who had verified their age. It warned that forcing UK residents to prove their age and have their content scanned in the name of child safety could be a slippery slope into wider surveillance. Apple, meanwhile, says it is working with the UK government in the name of protecting kids. In the European Union, civil rights activists opposed extended legislation allowing tech firms to voluntarily scan users’ private messages for child sexual abuse material.

In the UK, Nandy also said the government was considering going further with its sweeping social media ban for children under 16, which was announced earlier this year and remains on track to go into effect in spring 2027. She is also looking at strengthening the law around AI chatbots to protect children on those platforms as well.

What has been reported

Some Included Images of Real KidsImages of real children—including a member of a European royal family—were used to create some of the 350 ads containing child sexual abuse. Matt BurgessThe Cybersecurity Apocalypse Is Coming in ‘Months,’ AI Giants WarnPlus: Hackers target over 100 US water systems, ICE puts in an order for robot dogs, and you’ll never guess what “MrChildPorn” was arrested for. Apple removed the app from the App Store after an inquiry from WIRED.

They’re Still VulnerableChild safety groups and former Meta employees welcome proposed changes to how the company’s platforms will work for teens. Now the UK government plans to introduce new legislation that would see companies face fines and potential criminal liability, and signaled similar plans could extend to Snapchat and Instagram. “I expect tech firms to make that happen,” said then prime minister Keir Starmer. As a result, they will be changing the law to introduce what the UK government claims will be world-first legislation of its kind.

“We know that this is a sector that can—when required—innovate at an extraordinary pace when the chips are down,” Nandy added.

What happens next

Neither Meta nor Snap immediately responded to a request for comment. In June, messaging app Signal accused the UK government of using the measures to rush “invisible surveillance infrastructure” into law. Elon Musk’s X complained that the information-gathering powers imposed by Australia’s social media ban risk interfering with international law. Maddy VarnerWikipedia Workers Unionize for the First TimeMore than 200 people in roles such as engineering, finance, and communications will now be represented by the Communications Workers of America.

Vittoria ElliottCandidates Are Signing a Pact Promising Action on Data Centers and AI SafetyMore than 15 politicians from across the country have signed on to the AI Pact, vowing to regulate data centers and AI. “We’ve got to get this right,” says Senate candidate Dan Osborn of Nebraska. Molly TaftFace Recognition Is Becoming the Norm for Dating AppsTo keep scammers at bay, dating apps are embracing biometric scanning tools and “verified human” badges.