The UK government is set to ban ‘nudification’ tools, making it illegal to create or supply apps that generate fake nude images without consent.
Ministers have pledged that new rules will make it “impossible” for children in the UK to take, share or view a nude image using their phones.
The move forms part of the government’s strategy to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG).
The government said it will work with technology companies to develop solutions against image-based abuse and better protect young people from grooming, extortion, bullying, harassment and sexual abuse.
The project will expand on technology already implemented by British company Safe To Net, which specialises in security technologies and nudity detection filters already present on smartphones.
The announcement follows government research which found 276,149 sexually explicit deepfakes on a single dedicated site in 2023, with 96 per cent depicting women.
The study reveals that in September 2023 alone, 24 million people visited “nudification” sites globally.
Additionally, nine out of 10 reports sent to the Internet Watch Foundation relating to online child sexual abuse contain images taken by the children themselves, often coerced by predators and with potentially devastating consequences.
The government stressed that ‘nudification’ apps can devastate the lives of young people, adding that it will ensure that those who create or supply them face the consequences.
“Every child deserves to grow up safely, and we will do everything necessary to make that possible,” it said.
The creation and supply of apps or tools that generate deepfake images of real people naked will also be banned.
The new legislation will enable the police to prosecute companies and individuals who design and supply these tools.
The government has already legislated to criminalise the creation of non-consensual sexual deepfakes, ensuring that offenders face appropriate punishment for this heinous harm.
Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said it is vital to prevent the creation and sharing of these images and address the root causes of negative influences on young men in schools, homes and online.
“That’s why we will join forces with tech companies to stop predators online and prevent the next generation from being exploited by sexual extortion and abuse,” Phillips said.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall stated that women and girls deserve to be safe online as well as offline.
“We will not stand by while technology is weaponised to abuse, humiliate and exploit them through the creation of non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes,” Kendall said.
Founder of the Behind Our Screens campaign, Roxy Longworth, said: “If device controls like these had existed when I was 13, I would not have been coerced, blackmailed, abused and I would have been saved the devastating humiliation and mental health crisis that followed.”
At 13 years old, Longworth was coerced into sending intimate images, which were then shared without her consent.
She said she faced widespread humiliation, bullying, and a severe mental health crisis. She made sharing her story part of a mission to show how quickly image-based abuse can escalate and why strong protections are needed.
Commenting on the implementation of the strategy, Mark Jones, a partner at law firm Payne Hicks Beach and online safety expert specialising in dispute resolution, said that the effectiveness of the ban will depend on the details.
According to Jones, clear and robust enforcement mechanisms and meaningful obligations for technology providers will be essential to ensure that these commitments translate into “real protection rather than mere aspirations.”
“Without swift implementation and adequate resourcing, there is a real risk that young people will continue to be exposed to serious online abuse while the government struggles to keep pace with technological developments,” he added.
