Digital Safety: Children

Lord Markham Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Lords Chamber

We recognise that companies have already developed and implemented nudity detection on devices, and we want to work collaboratively with industry to build solutions and call on companies to take action within three months. We have been clear that if industry does not meet our high expectations, we will not hesitate to legislate. Furthermore, the Government’s Growing Up in the Online World consultation closed on 26 May. The Government are reviewing the responses and will provide an update in the coming weeks”.

[Lord Markham (Con)]

My Lords, there is total agreement across the House that children must be protected from harms online. Noble Lords will recall that amendments tabled by my noble friend Lord Nash on the impact of social media on children’s well-being were repeatedly resisted by the Government. We therefore welcome the Government’s recognition that further action is needed.

The Government have said that industry has three months to act and that legislation will follow if companies fail to do so. If Ministers are satisfied that these protections are so necessary, why have they chosen to rely on expectations from tech companies rather than legislating directly now? The proposals also appear to involve age assurance, device-level protections and enforcement obligations. What assessment has been made of the risk that younger users will simply remain on old operating systems, and of the practical challenges of implementing these measures across different manufacturers? The Government have also suggested that some educational platforms may be treated differently. What criteria will be used to determine any such exemptions?

Finally, can the Minister assure the House that, if the industry fails to meet the Government’s expectations within the three-month period, the necessary legislation will be ready to proceed without further delay?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Lord that there is unanimity on the importance of tackling child sexual abuse online and taking measures to further restrict that and make it harder. As my noble friend Lord Hanson made clear during the passage of the Act, device-level nudity detection can play an important role in preventing children taking, sharing or viewing nude imagery.

This measure really looks at how to prevent those images getting online. That is a very important part of the strategy; it stops harm before it happens, in addition to the law enforcement activity that must happen in parallel. It applies to both old and new smartphones and tablets, and we expect tech companies to set up controls so that, if a parent hands down a phone, for example, all they have to do is reset it to enact this operating-level facility.

In respect of making sure that legislation is ready, as the Minister for Online Safety said in the other place yesterday, he is working carefully and closely in parallel with the Home Office to draw up legislation should that be needed, should the protections not be put in place at scale as expected.