The Prime Minister has announced that tech companies will be expected to deploy measures to prevent children from encountering nude images on their platforms.

The announcement was made at the beginning of London Tech Week, and expanded upon later in a publication from the Home Office, explaining that platforms “must activate built-in features or implement technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to detect and block nude images for children”.

The Home Office also warned that if companies do not act within three months, the Government will introduce legislation requiring them to do so, backed by fines and potentially even criminal liability for senior executives.

Commenting on the announcement, the Technology Secretary, Liz Kendall, said, “we are holding social media platforms to account and will soon announce our next steps to keep children safe online. But this doesn’t stop with platforms; the devices themselves are part of the problem – and they can be part of the solution. Companies should switch these protections on by default, for every child, on every device. We are giving them 3 months to show us that they will do the right thing”.

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As indicated by the Technology Secretary, these requirements are in addition to measures that the Government will introduce in response to its consultation on children and social media (discussed previously here).

On 15 June 2026, the Prime Minster announced that – despite pressure from some campaign groups and the Trump administration –  an Australia-style ban on social media will be imposed for under 16s. This will apply to major social media platforms, but not messaging services such as WhatsApp or Signal.

The Government has also confirmed that “world-leading blocks on harmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s” will be introduced and apply to a range of online services, including gaming sites.

We await further precise details of the restrictions and how they will be enforced. In the meantime, the Technology Secretary has written to the new Chair of Ofcom to ask for “an urgent review of Ofcom’s enforcement capabilities with a clear enforcement strategy to be published as soon as possible”.

According to the Government’s press release, legislation is expected to be brought to Parliament before Christmas and to come into force in Spring 2027.

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