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The UK government’s child safety crusade now demands that Apple blocks nude images from being seen by children. This is a feature that already exists in iOS, and is on by default.
The government of the United Kingdom has repeatedly demanded that Apple does something to protect children from the dangers of technology. Aside from discussions about blocking young people from social media and forcing stringent age checks on apps and websites, the government is still demanding that big tech firms do more.
Once more, it’s trying to get Apple to block nude imagery from children’s eyes. But this time, the UK really means it.
Speaking at London Tech Week on Monday, Prime Minister Kier Starmer called on tech companies to “introduce device controls that prevent children from sending and receiving sexually explicit images.” He also declared that this is “not an impossible challenge.”
The plans would require Apple, Google, and other major companies to build or enable features on smartphones and tablets to detect nude images, reports Reuters. While such imagery would be blocked for children, adults would be able to view the content using age verification.
On Friday, the discussions about the inbound laws included the possibility of CEOs being jailed if they did not act. While the prospect of John Ternus being locked in a UK prison cell is still a possibility, the situation here is not quite that extreme.
For a start, the demand from Starmer is that companies should comply, or else the government will introduce legislation forcing them into compliance. Tech companies should do it voluntarily, in the government’s view, but it will make new laws to make them comply if needed.
From there, the legislation will call for fines and criminal liability for CEOs, which would theoretically be prison time at worst. More realistically, this would mean more fines and stern tutting.
One thing that does help Apple in this instance is that it has already worked on the problem. It practically has a solution ready-made for this.
Back in 2021, it announced child safety features that would detect child abuse material stored in iCloud, as well as scanning for material on devices. After a lot of complaints regarding privacy and safety, Apple stepped back and thought about things more, and removed the iCloud scanning bit.
However, Communication Safety, a feature that blocked nudes, was implemented in iOS 15.2, and is still available. It’s a feature that is enabled by default for children and teenagers, as well as for adults who haven’t confirmed their age.
Later, in iOS 17, Apple added the Sensitive Content Warning feature, which lets adults block the same sort of content for themselves.
In both cases, the features used on-device machine learning to detect nude photos and videos before anyone could view them.
This meant things like photographs in Messages are automatically blurred, requiring a conscious choice by users to view the material. It also applies to FaceTime calls and video messages, shared photo albums, AirDropped images, and even Contact Posters.
In its current state, Communication Safety practically does what the UK government wants. It blocks the images and video unless the user confirms their age, and by default too.
However, there’s still the question of whether it blocks enough content to appease the lawmakers. At worst, the features may have to be expanded to cover more apps.
The UK government has always bellowed the need to protect the innocent eyes and thoughts of children. It’s a reasonably reliable political point to press, since anyone who would object to any measures under it would be branded a monster.
Not acknowledging that the feature already exists is yet another example of the lack of knowledge that most government officials have about tech, while still legislating it.
However, the government hasn’t had much luck when it comes to some of its other orders.
The demand for apps and services to validate ages of users was a mess. Some services like Imgur withdrew from the country, while users had to deal with tougher age checks when they accessed not just adult websites, but also everyday apps that aren’t directly adult-leaning at all.
The less said about the whole Discord age-checking security snafu, the better.
Despite the lessons not being learned from that debacle, somehow the UK government has hit upon a demand that’s not entirely horrible. Indeed, it’s a thing that already exists in Apple’s operating systems.
For once, the demanding nanny-state that makes its orders toothless by nagging and pushing the consequences down the road has managed to do something almost reasonable.
It’s still something that curtails the rights and privileges of citizens, and we certainly can’t say the UK government is actually learning to do things in a smarter way.
But it is a step in the right direction. Albeit one that’s seemingly more luck than judgment.
Based in South Wales, Malcolm Owen has written about tech since 2012, previously for Electronista and MacNN. His interests include photography, magic tricks, game development, and annoying his cats.
The real desire is to curtail people’s online freedoms. As you (almost) say, they hide behind initiatives no reasonable person would question, then before you know it I’m having to prove my age and identity to watch highlights of a football match (seriously). If they could rush through a law to stop people talking about certain recent UK law enforcement “failings”, I’m sure they would…
Maybe I am too naif… but this has nothing to do with ‘protecting children…‘ but with have reason to fine companies. The idea of… jailing the CEO… seems to support my vision.
As in the past… all this ‘children protection‘ hides the government desire to have a back-door in the OS…
