Desk: The British government is preparing to take a big step to protect children from nude or obscene pictures on smartphones. The government is considering bringing such a law, under which Apple and Google may have to make strong security arrangements to prevent children from taking, viewing or sharing nude photos in their smartphones and tablets.
According to the report, Britain's Culture Minister Lisa Nandy informed about the government's plan in the House of Commons on Tuesday. However, he did not say when the proposed law would be presented in Parliament. According to the report, the British government had given Apple and Google about three months time in June. During this, both the companies were asked to voluntarily implement the necessary features for the safety of children. Both companies already have some safety features for children, but the government believes that these measures are not enough.
Apple has a communication safety feature. The company started it in 2021. This feature helps prevent children from viewing and sharing nude photos or videos. Later Apple extended it to some third-party apps also. According to the report, the company has told British officials that it is planning to further strengthen other features related to child safety including communication safety. At the same time, Google has also said that there is progress in this matter. The company says that it is working closely with the government, app developers and security experts to keep children safe.
The UK government believes that children can be pressured into making and sharing nude or private photographs. Such pictures can later lead to blackmail, online grooming and sexual exploitation. The proposed rules will not be limited to just the operating system of the phone. There are plans to implement these at the level of individual apps also. This means that the apps present in children's phones may also have to adopt additional security measures regarding such pictures. However, some important aspects of the law are yet to be decided. These also include which devices will come under the purview of the new rules.