- UK government announces three-month ultimatum to big tech companies to improve child safety
- Privacy advocates warn mandate could infringe on privacy
- Signal is among those warning that the proposal will create more harm than good
The UK’s plan to become “the first country” in the world where children cannot access explicit images on their devices is facing a growing backlash from privacy advocates and technology companies.
On Monday, June 8, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took the stage at London Tech Week to give major tech companies, including Apple and Google, a three-month ultimatum “to stop children sending and receiving sexually explicit images.”
End-to-end encrypted messaging app provider The signal was quick publicly respond to Starmer’s announcementwarning that the proposal will not protect children but will instead endanger all citizens.
In an article on X, VPN provider NymVPN argued that the mandate could pave the way for automated mass surveillance on consumer hardware. Meanwhile, UK digital rights group Big Brother Watch warned that the new obligations would lead to “the death of anonymity and privacy on the internet”.
However, Starmer appears determined to implement these new guarantees. “I expect tech companies to achieve this. It’s not an impossible challenge,” Starmer said during the official announcement.
Tech companies have until September to comply with the new rules. “But if they choose not to, then we will act and change the law,” Starmer added.
The development comes as the government is expected to publish the results of its consultation into children’s use of social media, which could introduce age restrictions for the use of VPN services.
Britain’s child safety plans
The UK plan requires smartphone and tablet makers like Apple and Google to enable built-in features or other technical solutions on smartphones and tablets “to detect and block nude images aimed at children.”
These changes are expected to apply to all UK devices, including existing and newly sold smartphones and tablets, while new legislation could impact operating system suppliers and other companies involved in the device supply chain, such as retailers.
The government maintains that these features will not affect devices owned and used by adults who verify their age. However, this likely means everyone will need to verify their identity to continue using their devices normally.
These requirements follow Apple’s recent decision to introduce broader child safety features and age checks for iPhone users in the UK – but the government’s new ultimatum goes even further.
As the government points out, nudity detection tools currently have no impact on children’s use of the camera, third-party messaging services, or search functions. Therefore, children may still be exposed to inappropriate material.
“The government therefore wants Apple and Google to block nudity across the entire device by default, so that they can only be disabled via age assurance,” the statement said.
Why are privacy advocates worried?
According to the secure messaging service, requiring all UK residents to prove their age or have all their content scanned sets a dangerous precedent.
“We know that the capabilities of mass surveillance and censorship, no matter how sincere the promises of those who launch them, never remain limited,” the letter reads.
Signal also argued that these requirements will not ensure children’s safety, saying children “deserve their right to privacy.”
Our statement on the UK government’s requirement that all content on all devices sold or used in the country be scanned, under the presumption of nudity, using a dystopian combination of age verification and content analysis. This proposal will not protect children. This puts us in danger…June 8, 2026
Echoing Signal’s concerns, Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, also argued that the plan would fail to tackle the underlying causes of online harm.
“This will only result in population-wide identity checks so we can all use our phones, tablets and laptops,” she said.
Beyond these “intrusive identity checks,” Carlo warned of the unintended consequences of enforcing device-level restrictions on messaging, streaming and browsing.
She said these mechanisms could “increase the potential for spyware in our pockets that will be exploited for other purposes before long.”
Digital rights advocates have long warned about the privacy implications of mandatory age verification and digitalization requirements. Recently, a coalition of more than 400 scientists called for an end to age checks until a “scientific consensus” is reached on the balance of benefits and harms for the entire population.
