The UK government wants technology companies to block explicit images on phones and computers by default to protect children, with adults having to verify their age to create and access such content.
Ministers want the likes of Apple and Google to incorporate nudity-detection algorithms into their device operating systems to prevent users taking photos or sharing images of genitalia unless they are verified as adults.
The Home Office is expected to encourage companies to introduce such controls as part of its strategy to tackle violence against women and girls, which will be unveiled in the coming days, according to people familiar with the matter.
Officials have explored making such controls a mandatory requirement for devices sold in the UK but have decided against such an approach for now, the people added.
Britain has resisted following Australia in implementing a ban on under-16s using social media, instead focusing on attempts to prevent children from seeing harmful content.
But there are growing concerns about the risk of children being exposed to grooming by adults and to pornography at a young age.
Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, has praised companies such as HMD Global, which has introduced a device aimed at children that contains software that automatically detects and blocks explicit imagery. The software, called HarmBlock, is produced by a UK company SafeToNet.
While Apple and Google’s Android mobile operating system have developed sensitive content warnings for younger users, these can be overridden by entering a passcode.
The Home Office wants to see operating systems that prevent any nudity being displayed on screen unless the user has verified they are an adult through methods such as biometric checks or official ID. Child sex offenders would be required to keep such blockers enabled.
While the policy has initially focused on mobile devices, officials say the same models could also be applied to desktops, pointing out that Microsoft Teams can already scan for “inappropriate content”.
However, the proposals are likely to face objections over privacy and civil liberties, as well as questions about how effective such measures could be.
When the UK this year instituted age checks for pornographic websites, users got around the restrictions by using fake photographs and services that disguise the country they are accessing the internet from.
The UK’s push comes after Australia recently set out policy encouraging companies to develop operating systems with settings for “detecting nudity and employing techniques such as blurring or warning message”.
The proposal is designed to sit alongside the Online Safety Act, which requires companies to have processes for removing material that is illegal or harmful to children.
Neither Apple nor Google offers a nudity-blocking system that works across the entire operating system, including apps developed by other companies that users download and run on their phones, such as WhatsApp or Telegram.
Apple offers what it calls “Communication Safety” tools that parents can activate on a child’s iPhone or iPad to alert them to inappropriate images. Its system detects nude photos and videos in several of Apple’s own apps and services, including Messages, AirDrop and FaceTime. But teenagers can still choose to view the image after dismissing an alert, although under-13s must enter a passcode set by their parents to do so.
Google offers parental controls through its Family Link system, which can be used to block or limit children’s access to certain apps on Android phones and in its search engine.
Google Messages, the default texting app on most Android phones, offers an option to turn on “sensitive content warnings”, similar to Apple’s system. Third-party apps can also choose to use the Android system called SafetyCore that identifies sensitive content in its own messaging app.
Google declined to comment. Apple did not comment. The Home Office declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Tim Bradshaw
