Keir Starmer is drawing a line in the sand. The Labour leader has personally told Apple and Google that they must ban nude images on children’s phones. No more warnings. No more voluntary codes. This is a direct order.
Westminster sources confirm Starmer's team delivered the message this week. The Prime Minister is framing this as a global leadership moment. Britain, he argues, is done asking nicely. The tech giants have had years to sort out child safety. They haven't. Now the state steps in.
This is a calculated move. Starmer knows the political terrain. Child safety is a no-brainer. The opposition won't touch it. The public is behind him. Polling shows overwhelming support for such measures. The PM is also positioning himself as a disruptor, a leader who takes on Big Tech. It plays well in the Red Wall.
But the detail is where the devil lives. The plan would require Apple and Google to build detection software into their operating systems. That means scanning images before they are sent or saved. Critics will scream surveillance state. Privacy campaigners are already sharpening their knives. They will argue this is a slippery slope. Once you scan for nudity, what else do you scan for? Political dissent? Religious extremism?
Starmer's team has anticipated this. They are framing it as a child safety measure, not a surveillance one. The technology is already in use elsewhere. Apple's own CSAM detection system was paused after privacy backlash. Now they are being forced to revive it. Google's existing tools are less intrusive, but also less effective.
The timing is interesting. This leak comes as Starmer faces a restive backbench over Gaza and NHS waiting lists. His team needs a win. A popular, decisive intervention on a cross-party issue? Jackpot. It also distracts from the internal rows. Classic Westminster manoeuvring.
Cabinet is united on this. The Home Secretary is fully behind it. The Education Secretary sees it as a win for safeguarding. Even the usual libertarian voices inside the party are keeping quiet. They know picking a fight on child protection is political suicide.
What happens next? Apple and Google will push back privately. They will argue technical difficulties. They will warn of unintended consequences. But they know the writing is on the wall. This is a Labour government with a massive majority. If they don't comply, legislation will follow. And that legislation will be designed to hurt their bottom line.
The real game will be in the implementation. How do you detect nudity without breaking encryption? The tech giants will demand clarity. Starmer's team will offer none. They want a solution, not a negotiation. Expect the deadline to be tight. Six months. Maybe less.
For the tech giants, this is a nightmare. They are caught between privacy activists and a government with teeth. They will choose compliance. They have no choice. Apple and Google know that if they fight this, the reputational damage will be immense. Better to cooperate and claim credit later.
Starmer's gamble is simple. He bets that the public will back him. He bets that the privacy backlash will be limited. He bets that other countries will follow. France is already watching. Germany too. If Britain pulls this off, it sets a global precedent.
But the risks remain. If the technology fails, if false positives wreck lives, the backlash will be brutal. Starmer will own that failure. His team knows this. That is why they are moving carefully, testing the waters with a leak before the formal announcement.
The bottom line: This is a defining moment for the Starmer premiership. He is picking a fight with the most powerful companies on earth. He is doing it on the safest possible ground. For now. But in Westminster, nothing stays safe for long.
