Apple and Google given three months to make a major change to every UK child's phone

The UK government and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have informed both Apple and Google that they'll have to comply with regulation to block access to naked images on smartphones operated by children in the next three months.

It's a significant shift in how manufacturers themselves have to deal with the issue of content moderation, and follows as part of wider social media restrictions for children under the age of 18.

Limitations on adult content first arrived last year when the UK joined several other countries in restricting access to pornographic websites, requiring users of all ages to provide verifiable documentation to visit certain areas of the internet.

This has since extended to a full blown social media ban for everyone under 16-years-old in the UK, alongside a prospective social media 'curfew' for children between 16 and 18 years old.

While social media apps with messaging services like Snapchat or Instagram are included within the newly implemented restrictions, Starmer has also outlined his request to tech companies that would see device-level blocks on explicit images.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has asked tech companies like Apple and Google to implement device-level blocks in the next three months (Benjamin Cremel - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

As reported by the BBC, Starmer addressed this issue in a talk at London Tech Week, where the prime minister outlined that the request is 'not impossible' as "these are some of the most innovative companies in the world and I believe they can solve it."

Apple, for example, has already implemented account-based age verification – although it's far less strict than many other blocks – and certain websites like Pornhub have advocated for device-level checks as opposed to putting the onus on individual platforms.

The prime minister has also emphasized that the change "will not affect the use of devices owned and used by adults who verify their age," but does indicate that everyone will have to provide identification regardless of their age — something that sparks concerns over privacy and cybersecurity for many.

This would require every action taken by a child on their phone to be scanned by the manufacturer (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)

Additionally, the concept of your device being able to scan every single action that you take in order to reactively block explicit content is arguably a major privacy overstep that some have pointed out is effectively 'mass surveillance legislation'.

"This is literally impossible without mass surveillance of every phone in the UK," wrote one commenter on Reddit, asking if "this is what Labour supporters hoped for? Ever increasing government surveillance in the abstract name of 'safety'?"

Another wrote that they "can't wait to have to provide all my IDs and information to an AI judge before I can do literally anything online because I'm sure this will get more and more intrusive over time."

Google has issued a vague statement of support following this request from the UK government, with a spokesperson outlining how the tech giant is "deeply committed to protecting children online.

"We are working constructively with UK partners to find effective, privacy-preserving solutions that deter the spread of harmful content while ensuring a safe digital environment for young people," the statement continued.