The UK government is now preparing to step up pressure on Apple and Google to introduce stricter norms around explicit content on smartphones, as per new reports. With this, the government aims to prevent minors from creating, viewing or sharing nude images on mobile devices unless the user has been verified as an adult.
According to the Financial Times, British ministers are urging the two tech giants to incorporate nudity detection systems directly into iOS and Android. According to the new proposal, smartphones would be programmed to block and distribute explicit images unless the user’s age was confirmed using approved verification methods such as official identification or biometric checks. The plan would also include restricting the display of nude images on devices used by unverified users.
This comes amid a border policy debate over age verification and online child safety. Legislators in both the UK and the US are increasingly supporting the idea that app stores, rather than individual app developers, should be responsible for verifying a user’s age. In the United States, this approach has already taken shape in the form of the proposed App Store Accountability Act, which would require Apple and Google to verify ages at the platform level and apply appropriate restrictions across apps.
While Apple has previously opposed such proposals, experts argue that a system-level verification process would be more practical and less intrusive. The UK government’s order is expected to be announced in a few days, but the report suggests it will initially refrain from imposing a legal mandate. However, it is unknown if this approach will be followed by other countries.
For those who are unfamiliar, Apple already provides some protections through features like its communication safety tools in iMessage, which blur explicit images for child accounts and notify parents if the content is viewed. However, the proposed measures would go much further, imposing restrictions at the OS level.