LONDON — Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday urged tech firms to block children from sending or receiving intimate images, vowing to legislate if they fail to clamp down on self-generated child sexual abuse material within three months.
“When it comes to the safety of our children, standing by is not an option. Nobody gets a free pass. That is why I’m making sure Britain is the first country in the world to make it impossible for children to take, share, or view nude images.
“And I expect tech firms to make that happen. This is not an impossible challenge — these are some of the most innovative companies in the world. But if they choose not to, then we will act and change the law,” he said.
The NSPCC’s chief executive Chris Sherwood welcomed the announcement, describing it as a “major step forward in our fight against online child sexual abuse.”
“Time is up for Big Tech. Now Government must focus on holding them to account to ensure this transformational change for young people’s safety is quickly delivered,” he said.
Last month Labour MP Jess Phillips resigned as Home Office minister, accusing Starmer of wavering on whether or not to force industry to introduce device-level protections for children.
“It has taken me a year to get you to even threaten to legislate in this space. Not legislate, just threaten. This is the definition of incremental change,” she wrote in her resignation letter, adding: “How many children were left without a safety net in the time we dilly dallied and worried about tech bosses?”