- UK government announces three-month ultimatum for big tech companies to improve child safety
- Privacy advocates warn mandate could undermine privacy
- Signal is among those warning that the proposal will do more harm than good.
The UK’s plan to become “the first country” in the world to prevent children from accessing explicit images on their devices is facing growing backlash from privacy campaigners 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 to publicly respond to Starmer’s announcementwarning that the proposal will not protect children but will endanger all citizens.
In a post on X, VPN provider NymVPN argued that the mandate could usher in automated mass surveillance on consumer hardware. Meanwhile, UK-based digital rights group Big Brother Watch warned that these new obligations will lead to “the death of anonymity and privacy on the internet.”
However, Starmer seems determined to implement these new safeguards. “I hope that technology companies will make that happen. This is 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, we will act and change the law,” Starmer added.
The development comes as the government is expected to publish the results of its consultation on children’s use of social media, which could introduce age restrictions on the use of VPN services.
UK child safety plans
The UK plan requires smartphone and tablet makers like Apple and Google to enable built-in features or other technical solutions in smartphones and tablets “to detect and block nudity images of children.”
These changes are expected to apply to all UK devices, including existing and recently sold smartphones and tablets, while the new legislation could affect operating system vendors 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 will likely mean that everyone will need to verify their identities to continue using their devices normally.
These requirements follow Apple’s recent decision to introduce broader child safety features and age controls for UK iPhone users, but the government’s new ultimatum goes a step further.
As the government notes, nudity detection tools currently do not affect children’s camera use, third-party messaging services, or search functions. Consequently, children may still be exposed to inappropriate material.
“Therefore, the government wants Apple and Google to block nudity on the entire device by default, so that it can only be disabled by age control,” the announcement reads.
Why are privacy advocates worried?
According to the secure messaging service, forcing all UK residents to prove their age or scan all their content creates a dangerous precedent.
“We know that the capabilities of mass surveillance and censorship, no matter how sincere the promises of those who initiate them, are never limited,” the letter reads.
Signal also argued that these requirements will not keep children safe, stating that children “deserve their human right to privacy.”
Our statement on the UK government’s demand 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 scanning. This proposal will not protect children. It puts us in danger…June 8, 2026
Echoing Signal’s concerns, Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, also argued that the plan will not address 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,” he said.
Beyond these “intrusive identity checks,” Carlo warned of the unintended consequences of imposing device-level restrictions on messaging, streaming, and browsing.
He stated that 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 scanning obligations. Recently, a coalition of more than 400 scientists called for age controls to be stopped until a “scientific consensus” is reached on the balance between benefits and harms for the general population.
