Madeleine Lake
Live reporter

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In a speech at London Tech Week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a request to tech companies operating in the UK - introduce device controls that prevent children from sending and receiving explicit images or face punishment.

The government says Britain will become the first country in the world to stop children taking, sharing, or viewing naked pictures on their devices.

Companies have three months to make changes or the government will bring forward legislation to force them, the PM said.

Our Cyber Correspondent says some technology may already exist like this, but in limited cases.

The announcement has been met with mixed reaction. One group, Big Brother Watch, has called it "extreme technological censorship", while the National Society for the Prevention of Crutely to Children said they "strongly support the government's decision".

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says that whilst the intention is good, "banning certain features isn't enough".

It isn't the end of Starmer's announcements over technology reforms - today the government also revealed a new AI jobseeking assistant, and a consultation into official screentime guidance for children.

And within days, he's preparing to announce a crackdown on children's access to social media.

We're pausing our live coverage now - you can read more on today's announcement on explicit images here.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

A speech from the prime minister which will include a new policy on social media is planned for next week.

In recent weeks, government ministers have examined a variety of options for restrictions, including a blanket ban on under-16s accessing social media, as has been introduced in Australia.

The prime minister was previously resistant to restrictions on children's access to social media. But under pressure from the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, as well as dozens of Labour MPs, the government launched a public consultation on a ban in March.

Next week is already a crucial week for Sir Keir, who will spend several days at the annual G7 summit of world leaders in France, while the Makerfield by-election in which Andy Burnham is Labour's candidate is taking place on Thursday.

A full list of the parties who have put forward candidates for the Makerfield by-election can be found here.

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Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper says Keir Starmer's announcements today are "desperately sad", as the PM has taken "almost two years" to issue an ultimatum to tech companies over children sending naked images.

She says Starmer is only implementing the policies on online harm now due to the "context of a leadership challenge rather than doing it because it's the right thing to do".

On social media use among children more broadly, Cooper says the Lib Dems believe "these big tech companies that are pouring poison into children’s brains need to be paying a lot more to help with that particular issue, and we want stronger regulation as well".

Cooper says she hopes to see "genuine action by the prime minister", before voicing her frustration that he hasn't "acted much sooner".

Campaign group Big Brother Watch has raised privacy concerns following Keir Starmer's announcement, saying "no one in a democracy should need to show their passport just to get online."

Silkie Carlo, the director of the group says, "the government mandating that all phones in Britain require ID and surveillance software is a crossing of the Rubicon that would make the UK one of the most authoritarian internet regimes in the world."

They say it raises the potential for "potential of spyware in our pockets that will be exploited for other purposes before long."

Under new plans, tech giants such as Apple and Google could be required to activate built-in features or implement technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to detect and block nude images for children.

Responding to criticisms over privacy concerns, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says the plans are about "stopping the coercion and sextortion of children, not surveilling or policing people’s phones".

"This technology is already on devices. The tech firms just need to switch it on to block children from seeing nude imagery.

"There is no reporting, no data collection, no monitoring, and no images leaving the device," she adds.

Do you agree with the proposals? Is more needed to keep children safe over explicit images? You can get in touch with your views, comments or questions in the following ways:

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Separate to today's announcement on explicit image controls, the government has also announced it has launched a consultation on screen time guidance for children.

The call for evidence will help to form the guidance put together by the government, to be offered to parents.

It will include advice for when a child gets their first smartphone or how long they should be spending on screens. It follows advice that's already been issued for children under five.

Children's Commissioner for England Rachel de Souza says under-16s across the country want to cut down on social media, but "don't know how".

On Monday she told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme that "there is a groundswell from everyone that we need to get something done".

The consultation comes as Keir Starmer says "decisive" action is needed for under-16s on social media. For de Souza, the language shouldn't be about "banning the children", but instead "banning the companies".

"The children have done nothing wrong," she told Radio 4. "We are protecting children by not allowing these companies to have access to them."

Liv McMahon
Technology reporter

While some child safety campaignershave welcomed the government’s announcement, others have been more critical.

Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said telling tech firms to introduce measures to make devices safe-by-design was an “important step forward” in helping to protect children from grooming and abuse.

But he said doing so while “briefing out a flawed ban on social media for young people” appeared “muddled and incoherent”.

The governmentrecently consulted on whether to ban under-16s from social media, promising to take some form of action.

Burrows added Number 10 “needs to start urgently listening to experts and the evidence, rather than rush out hurried announcements for short term expediency”.

Mark Jones, external, a lawyer and online safety expert at Payne Hicks Beach, said the government’s announcement “risks being more rhetoric than remedy” by not setting out clear regulatory action and enforcement.

“Simply saying the law may be changed if platforms fail to act is not enough,” he said.

Elliot Burrin
Live reporter

Tech companies are "more and more incentivised" to introduce device controls for children, Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS), an independent British company, says.

Chief executive Tony Allen says that's because these policies are becoming increasingly popular with parents - who ultimately are the customers. He tells me that a ban on children receiving sexually explicit images is "long overdue".

ACCS is a UK company that was commissioned by the Australian government to test whether age checks would be possible in the run up to the country's world-first social media ban for under-16s.

Allen says that the technology is there to implement a ban in the UK, but it relies on social media companies being proactive. In Australia, he says, often users are not being asked to verify their age, meaning they can still access content.

In terms of controls to prevent children sending explicit images, Allen says there is a "bigger problem" with end-to-end encrypted images. That's because these images can't be intercepted in transit by the social media platform, so the device's operating system would be responsible for stopping a photo being sent.

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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch questions how some of today's government announcements around online harms will work in practice.

Reacting to Starmer's request to tech firms to stop children being able to send and receive explicit images, Badenoch says "the intention is good, but how are they actually going to do it?".

"Banning certain features is not enough," she continues. "Social media is for adults, not for children. These platforms are designed to be addictive and social media companies should not be profiting off young people's anxiety, mental health or depression."

Badenoch reiterates that she has been campaigning for a social media ban for under-16s but Labour "has ignored this until recently".

She accuses Starmer of reconsidering it now because he "is in trouble", but "piecemeal measures" are not the way forward in her view.

She says children "are seeing all sorts of misinformation. It's distorting their understanding of our country and the world as we know it, and the government needs to do better."

Joe Tidy
Cyber correspondent

In short, yes - but only in limited cases. Apple already uses technology which can detect nudity on devices through its Sensitive Content Warning system.

On Apple devices, nude images received via iMessage, AirDrop, FaceTime video messages and shared photo albums can be blurred automatically, with users warned: “This may be sensitive”. Parents can also receive alerts.

Android has a similar feature, though it currently only works in Google Messages.

So the technology already exists for detecting received nude content but the bigger challenge is stopping people from sending them - which is far harder to enforce.

Much of the Child Sexual Abuse Material involving coerced children is shared through end-to-end encrypted services such as WhatsApp, Signal, Discord and FaceTime, where only the sender and recipient can view messages.

Apple does include FaceTime in its warning system through a workaround, suggesting broader protections may be possible.

But attempts to expand scanning systems have previously sparked major backlash from privacy campaigners concerned about surveillance and encryption.

Image source, Reuters

Starmer's speech today comes after months of debate around a social media ban for under-16s.

The government's consultation on the matter drew to a close at the end of May, with Technology Secretary Liz Kendall saying new measures will be brought by the end of 2026, and a response to the consultation will come in the summer.

The government has been considering whether to introduce a legal minimum age for social media, alongside limits on features such as autoplay and infinite scrolling, and stronger age checks.

Starmer has vowed to take "decisive" action to tackle to impact of social media on children in the UK.

The prime minister has been subject to mounting pressure and told families and campaigners who insist their children died as a result of social media use that "it is important that we act and will act".

Meanwhile, a separate consultation will lead to guidance for parents on when a child should get their first smartphone and how long under-16s should spend in front of screens.

Liv McMahon
Technology reporter

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The UK has already introduced laws to try to protect children online.

Foremost is the Online Safety Act - laws and duties online platforms must follow - implemented and enforced by media regulator Ofcom.

The act requires firms to remove illegal content, including child sexual abuse, controlling or coercive behaviour or promoting suicide or self-harm.

It has also created offences to make sending unsolicited sexual imagery - known as cyber-flashing - and sharing "deepfake" pornography, creating using AI, illegal.

Under Ofcom’s Protection of Children Codes, companies must also prevent children from being exposed to harmful content relating to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and pornography. The regulator has already fined some firms for not complying with these requirements.

Earlier this year the government also banned so-called nudification apps.

But child safety campaigners have urged the government to go further to stop children seeing or sharing nude images, amid concerns about online grooming and sextortion.

Starmer's call for tech companies to block children from sending, receiving or seeing explicit images has been welcomed by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

The charity's chief executive, Chris Sherwood, says online grooming, sexual exploitation and proliferation of child sexual abuse material could be prevented if the companies "did the right thing" and introduced nudity-blocking technology on children's phones.

"Every day these protections are not in place, more children will continue to face devastating harm in the online world," he says.

"That's why we strongly support the government's decision to make it mandatory for these companies to block inappropriate material at device level."

He says "time is up for big tech" and the government must now focus on "holding them to account to ensure this transformational change for young people's safety is quickly delivered".

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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says tech companies have a "moral duty to act" and make it impossible for children to take, share or view nude images.

"As a society, we have not kept pace with the changing threats that children face. Abuse online is far too common, and we will not tolerate it," she says.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall says that "no parent should have to worry that giving their child a smartphone opens the door to abuse and exploitation."

She says the government is holding social media platforms to account and "will soon announce our next steps to keep children safe online".

But she says this doesn't stop with the platforms because "the devices themselves are part of the problem" and can be "part of the solution".

"We are giving them three months to show us that they will do the right thing," she says.

The government has released further detail about Starmer's announcement that the government wants tech firms to prevent children from sending and receiving explicit images.

Here's an overview:

• Britain will become the first country in the world where it is impossible for children to take, share or view naked pictures on their devices, the government says
• Big tech companies like Apple and Google must activate built-in features or implement technical solutions to detect and block nude images for children on both new and existing smartphones and tablets it says, which would block nudity across the whole device by default
• Those over 18 would still be able to take, share or view nude content through an age verification process, it says
• If the companies do not act within three months, the government will bring forward legislation to force them to activate blocking technology, it says
• This would include fines for companies failing to comply, it says, adding "nothing is off the table", and as a last resort the government is exploring criminal liability for tech bosses who fail to comply
• The government says 91% of online child sexual abuse reports recorded in 2024 contained self-generated content from children themselves and the average child now views pornography by age 13

The Home Office has just released further details on the changes announced by Starmer over device controls preventing children from sending and receiving explicit images.

We're going through the document now - we'll bring you the key details shortly.

Starmer says he will not "pretend to know" what the world will look like in 10 years time but that there will be new technologies and tools we use everyday.

He says the pace of change will not "slow down" but what matters is whether Britain is ready for it.

He adds that the government has "made its choice" to take control of the future, to be ambitious and to make AI work for the whole of the country.

"We choose to build a stronger, fairer Britain," he says, ending his speech.

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Moving on from online harm, Starmer turns to young people.

He says they need to be equipped for the future workforce, announcing that AI tutors will be rolled out to 450,000 children on free school meals to close the attainment gap.

He adds that AI is already helping in places, delivering faster diagnoses in the NHS and reducing court backlogs.

The prime minister also announces the government's new AI job tool "to help those out of work find the right jobs, create their CVs and get back into work".

Starmer also says a new strategy will develop sovereign computing capabilities, and the government will commit to purchasing specialist AI chips worth over £400 million.

He says this will provide a "generational opportunity" for Britain's most "promising start ups".

Starmer says while there are exciting developments in tech, he knows there are worries too, including around jobs and child safety.

The pace of change cannot be an excuse for harm and where tech poses a threat to "our people, to our children" the government will act "quickly" and "firmly".

He says earlier in the year X allowed its AI tool, Grok, to create "disgusting" and explicit AI images.

"We took them on," he says, saying other tech companies should know if they fall short on their responsibilities to keep people safe the government will act with the "same decisiveness".

He says that if companies operating in the UK do not introduce device controls to prevent children from sending and receiving sexually explicit images, the law will be changed, he says.

"Standing by is not an option."

Starmer says today he is calling on tech companies operating in the UK to introduce device controls that prevent children from sending and receiving explicit images.

"If they choose not to, then we will act, and we will change the law," he says.