Britain will penalise major technology companies if they fail to remove nonconsensual intimate images shared online within 48 hours of being reported. These penalties could include fines of up to 10% of their qualifying global revenue and the potential blocking of their services in the U.K., according to a report by Reuters.
The UK government on Thursday announced that it would amend ongoing legislation to impose this legal duty on platforms. While sharing such images is already illegal in Britain, victims have often struggled to get them permanently removed from sites.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasised that the measure aims to strengthen protections amid rising concerns over privately shared images being distributed without permission and the rapid creation of explicit content using AI tools.
This development forms part of a broader debate in the U.K. over online safety, where the government is also mulling restrictions on social media access for those under 16, similar to steps taken in Australia.
U.K.'s media regulator Ofcom is reportedly mulling that sharing of illegal intimate pictures should be treated with the same level of priority as child sexual abuse material and terrorist content. Victims will need to report such content only once, after which tech platforms must remove it across their services and take steps to prevent the content going up online again.
Fines would be based on a platform's qualifying worldwide revenue, as defined by Ofcom, covering income from regulated parts of the service globally.
Separately, Ofcom stated it would accelerate decisions on new requirements for hash-matching tools to proactively block such illegal images. A decision is expected in May, with potential implementation as early as summer, the report added.
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