Labour urged to block child abuse material on all British devices

Politicians and campaigners are urging the Government to require technology that blocks child sexual abuse material on smartphones, laptops and tablets sold in Britain. A white paper from the International Justice Mission argues that device-level protections could be adapted for this purpose, extending measures already planned to prevent children from viewing or sharing nude images.

The proposal comes amid concern about the scale and spread of abuse imagery, including material generated by artificial intelligence. The article cites polling in which 80 per cent supported installing blocking technology on devices and five per cent opposed it; the Internet Watch Foundation found 73 per cent of material it analysed in 2025 was not self-generated. Britain’s database of child abuse images has grown from fewer than 10,000 in the late 1990s to 40 million today. Rights groups warn that device scanning could affect privacy, while the Government says it is preparing legislation and stronger police powers.