Plans to ban nudifying apps come after previous calls from child protection charities for the government to crack down on the tech.<\/p>\n
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) – whose Report Remove helpline allows under-18s to confidentially report explicit images of themselves online – said 19% of confirmed reporters had said some or all of their imagery had been manipulated.<\/p>\n
Its chief executive Kerry Smith welcomed the measures.<\/p>\n
“We are also glad to see concrete steps to ban these so-called nudification apps which have no reason to exist as a product,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Apps like this put real children at even greater risk of harm, and we see the imagery produced being harvested in some of the darkest corners of the internet.”<\/p>\n
However while children’s charity the NSPCC welcomed the news, its director of strategy Dr Maria Neophytou said it was “disappointed” to not see similar “ambition” to introduce mandatory device-level protections.<\/p>\n
The charity is among organisations calling on the government to make tech firms find easier ways to identify and prevent spread of CSAM on their services, such as in private messages.<\/p>\n
The government said on Thursday it would make it “impossible” for children to take, share or view a nude image on their phones. <\/p>\n