More than 100 MPs demand Apple and Google block nude images on children’s phones
More than 100 MPs have urged Apple and Google to introduce nudity-blocking technology on children’s smartphones as concerns grow over grooming, blackmail and online sexual abuse.
More than 100 MPs have called on Apple and Google to urgently introduce technology that blocks children from taking, viewing or sharing nude images on smartphones.
The cross-party group warned that explicit images are increasingly being used to exploit, groom and blackmail young people, with abuse often taking place beyond the sight of moderators or regulators.
In a letter to the tech giants, MPs said children were continuing to suffer despite technology already existing that could provide stronger protection.
“It is unacceptable that children continue to suffer whilst, as adults, we have the power and the capacity to protect them,” the letter said.
The intervention follows Government moves to force technology companies to introduce device-level safeguards. Ministers gave Apple and Google three months in June to make meaningful progress and announced earlier this month that legislation would now be prepared requiring stronger protections.
The NSPCC estimates that 11,400 online child sexual abuse offences, around 100 a day, will have been recorded by police since that June deadline.
Labour MP for Hitchin Alistair Strathern, who organised the letter with the charity, said legislation would take time and urged companies to act sooner.
“Apple and Google have no excuses,” he said. “They know the requirement is coming, they have the capability to act, and every day they don’t risks more children experiencing image-based abuse.”
NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood said offenders were continuing to manipulate and coerce children into sharing nude images, adding: “Apple and Google, it’s time to step up. Children cannot afford further delays.”
Google said it was an industry leader in tackling non-consensual intimate imagery and remained committed to working with experts, lawmakers, developers and device manufacturers while protecting privacy and access to information.
Apple said its Communication Safety feature, launched in 2021, already helps prevent children from viewing or sharing images and videos containing nudity.
The company said it had since expanded the feature, including support for third parties, and had shared plans with UK officials to strengthen its safety tools further.
The MPs said further delay would allow abuse to continue and urged both companies to introduce stronger protections as a “matter of urgency”.