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hubie [soylentnews.org] writes:

Government seeks "nudity-detection algorithms" in iOS and Android, report says [arstechnica.com]:

The UK government reportedly will "encourage" Apple and Google to prevent phones from displaying nude images except when users verify that they are adults.

The forthcoming push for nudity-blocking systems was reported by the Financial Times [ft.com] today. The report said the UK won't institute a legal requirement "for now." But asking companies to block nude images could be the first step toward making it mandatory if the government doesn't get what it wants.

"The UK government wants technology companies to block explicit images on phones and computers by default to protect children, with adults having to verify their age to create and access such content," the FT report said. "Ministers want the likes of Apple and Google to incorporate nudity-detection algorithms into their device operating systems to prevent users taking photos or sharing images of genitalia unless they are verified as adults."

If the UK gets its way, operating systems like iOS and Android would "prevent any nudity being displayed on screen unless the user has verified they are an adult through methods such as biometric checks or official ID. Child sex offenders would be required to keep such blockers enabled." The Home Office "has initially focused on mobile devices," but the push could be expanded to desktops, the FT said. Government officials point out that Microsoft can already scan for "inappropriate content" in Microsoft Teams, the report said.

[...] Apple and Google both provide optional tools that let parents control what content their children can access. The companies could object to mandates on privacy grounds, as they have in other venues.

When Texas enacted an age-verification law for app stores, Apple and Google said they would comply but warned of risks to user privacy [arstechnica.com]. A lobby group that represents Apple, Google, and other tech firms then sued Texas [arstechnica.com] in an attempt to prevent the law from taking effect, saying it "imposes a broad censorship regime on the entire universe of mobile apps."

There's another age-verification battle in Australia, where the government decided to ban social media for users under 16. Companies said they would comply [arstechnica.com], although Reddit sued Australia [reuters.com] on Friday in a bid to overturn the law.

Apple this year also fought a UK demand [arstechnica.com] that it create a backdoor for government security officials to access encrypted data. The Trump administration claimed it convinced the UK to drop its demand, but the UK is reportedly still seeking an Apple backdoor [arstechnica.com].

In another case, the image-sharing website Imgur blocked access for UK users [imgur.com] starting in September while facing an investigation [ico.org.uk] over its age-verification practices.

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