LONDON — Prime Minister Keir Starmer directed technology companies Apple and Google to implement age verification measures on mobile devices. Apple and Google will face potential government intervention, including custodial sentences for executives, if they fail to implement stricter device controls for minors.
Starmer provided technology firms with a three-month period to voluntarily install explicit content blocking software on children's devices. The U.K. government also proposed legislation to prohibit individuals under 16 from creating or accessing accounts on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, X, and YouTube. These proposed regulations would also include the removal of infinite scrolling and autoplay features for younger users.
Starmer stated, "Standing by is not an option." He added, "For too long, people have been told that is simply the price of modern tech, that nothing could be done, that government is powerless, that parents just have to accept it. I reject that completely because tech should adapt to the needs of society, not the other way around." The U.K. government plans to model portions of its age verification framework after Australian regulations.
A spokesperson for Big Brother Watch, a campaign organization, stated, "No one in a democracy should need to show their passport just to get online." Parents will not receive automatic notifications when blocking software prevents a minor from sharing explicit content. The Molly Rose Foundation supports the proposed social media and device restrictions for minors.
An Internet Watch Foundation investigation documented online guides instructing individuals to use artificial intelligence to digitally alter photographs of children. Explicit image blocking technology for the proposed U.K. regulations utilizes HarmBlock AI software developed by SafeToNet. Apple and Google have developed artificial intelligence algorithms capable of identifying nudity. U.K. law requires technology companies to delete non-consensual intimate photographs within 48 hours of a report.