At London Tech Week, the Prime Minister announced that major technology companies will be expected to activate built-in features, or introduce other technical measures, to prevent children from taking, sharing or viewing nude images on smartphones and tablets. He warned that if companies do not act voluntarily within three months, the government says it will bring forward legislation to mandate the changes. 

Ofcom recently acknowledged that current online safety laws do not explicitly require services to keep underage children off their platforms by using robust age checks, although the ICO can take action under data protection rules.  It flagged this to the government.

The stated aim is to reduce the risk of online exploitation and abuse, while also preventing children from accessing pornographic content on their devices.

The government has indicated that any legislation could include financial penalties for non-compliant companies and, as a last resort, potential criminal liability for senior executives. It has also suggested that the regime could extend beyond operating system providers to others in the supply chain, including retailers.

The announcement builds on recent steps already taken by at least one platform in the UK, including age checks for device users and safety features that are enabled by default for users who are not verified as over 18. The government presents those measures as evidence that wider device-level protections are technically achievable.

However, existing protections do not currently extend across the full functionality of a device. In particular, they may not cover the camera, wider app ecosystem, third-party messaging services or search functions. The government is therefore calling for protections to apply across the whole device by default, with adults able to opt out through age assurance.

A key part of the proposal is that these measures should be implemented in a privacy-preserving way, without broader data collection. While the technical details remain limited, the direction of travel is clear: the government expects stronger device-level child safety controls and is prepared to legislate quickly if voluntary action does not follow.

For businesses in scope, this is another sign of the UK's increasingly interventionist approach to online safety and platform accountability. Companies involved in operating systems, connected devices, app ecosystems and related supply chains should monitor developments closely and assess now whether existing child safety tools, age assurance processes and governance arrangements would withstand closer regulatory scrutiny. 

More widely, Canada is proposing a social media ban for children and teenagers under the age of 16 in its Safe Social Media Act, although tech firms may be granted an exemption if they have established and maintained sufficient safeguards for children on their platform.

The UK's announcement also sits alongside the government's wider review of children's use of social media, following a consultation that reportedly attracted more than 100,000 responses and is expected to be followed by a formal response in due course. There are reports that a response may be issued as early as next week, so we will keep you posted! 

In the UK, online businesses and industry bodies are calling for balance and proportionality from the government when considering and implementing any legislation to ban access to platforms and are urging lawmakers to also consider the health and wellbeing benefits of spending time online, particularly on games, encouraging open conversations about screen time rather than blanket bans.