UK Wants All iPhones to Block Explicit Images Unless You Prove Age

[turbineseaplane]

Just want to say, those criticising the UK's population and that we are insignificant etc, I believe half of the US states are looking into forcing age verification systems, or limiting / banning VPN's.... have a good day.

Correct. This is becoming a worldwide issue.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

The messed-up part is that such a mechanism already exists in iOS and macOS. Implementing this would be a simple switch to making it the default behavior. We shouldn't forget that Apple is somewhat prudish themselves.

 

[bluecoast]

People also get killed by drunk drivers. The argument in essence you are making is that we should go back into prohibition.

I’m not. I’m making an argument akin to minors not being allowed to buy alcohol until they are 21 / 18 etc

 

[ProbablyDylan]

The time when i get a dumb phone and a linux laptop are edging closer and closer every day.

Linux is great on laptops and desktops! And unlike macOS or windows, it's getting better every day.

You don't even need to buy new hardware to try it - most linux flavors play nice in VMs or can be test driven without committing to the install.

 

[code-m]

I’m not in favour of censorship in any form but you’d have to be completely blind to see the damage explicit internet content has done to society at large.

Violence in relationships has become normalised because it’s what young people think sex should be. The loneliness epidemic in men is the biggest cause of suicide and at its root is an addiction to porn instead of seeking healthy relationships with other consenting adults. It’s an insidious addiction because you don’t really notice the symptoms and the product is both infinite and free. Men feel ashamed about it and don’t seek help leading to spirals of self-destruction. That’s not to mention the exploitation of performers.

Putting explicit images of yourself out there into the ether of your own volition is equally as damaging for so many people and should not be encouraged. Go home and shower together instead.

Apple and Google blocking these images by default using on-device AI (which is what the current warning software uses) isn’t state surveillance and if you’re not looking at it then you’ve nothing to worry about. It would also blanket block it all for teenagers which is only a good thing.

And for the tin-hat brigade I’ll just mention that digital state ID tends to make use of Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) cryptography meaning it proves data without exposing it so it can’t be used for surveillance. You should be more worried about how much tracking large internet companies do than your own government.

Yes yes we all know that domestic violence, extramarital excursions and the whole lot didn’t exist prior to the internet and online porn. /s

 

[bluecoast]

And neither from Robert Metcalf who invented Ethernet. The foundation of WWW. Yes as a side bar convo, Tim Berners-Lee developed the www protocols which sit upon IP protocols. But we wouldn’t have networks had it not been for Robert Metcalf.

Any there is no chicken and egg here. The progression is clear.

Also an American invented TCP/IP.

I’m just saying that to all the people on the forums who are saying ‘get away brits!’ A Brit invented a key part of what we call ‘the internet’.

 

[jimbobb24]

I would love for this technology to be available for those who want it. My sons iPhone is locked down every way apple has available and Siri will show him porn images. Its wild.

 

[Corefile]

Umm a Brit invented the World Wide Web.

Great if you want to look at webpages. Plenty of other internet technologies exists long before he got involved.

 

[racer1441]

How many rules and regulations do other countries put on European companies and technology?

You wrap this stuff in a cause to make it more palitable. Who wouldn't want to protect kids.. of course. Then you have what that means, digital ID, tracking, government access to your data, and everything else that goes with it.

That's what corrupt government's do. You think that the Patriot Act has anything patriotic about it?

That' doesn't even account for the fact that government is pretty much guarenteed to abuse the power and not accomplish the goal. These companies put in the technology to scan for something and in two days it'll be jail broken. Ban certain social media companies that these old fart politicians hear of on the nightly news and everyone moves to the new one that isn't covered.

There are solutions to protect those who need to be protected but they don't care about them because that's not really the goal.

 

[I7guy]

You deserved your independence. And we’re relieved you got it. Just took a while.

See, it’s not so hard to get agreement amongst posters.

 

[racer1441]

Fascísm is engulfing the entire planet 😭

It always has. Pretending different is just silly. The difference here is that they don't care if you know it or not.

 

[now i see it]

every animal on earth is completely naked - and none of them care the least. But a naked human? illegal

 

[code-m]

Great if you want to look at webpages. Plenty of other internet technologies exists long before he got involved.

I thought it was Al Gore. /s

 

[bluecoast]

No it’s not enough. If you are an adult you have rights but also responsibilities. We are not going to introduce mass surveillance just because some adults can not control themselves and their screen/porn addiction and because some parents neglect their responsibility. Maybe 10-15 years ago I could accept the excuse of parents that they dont know how to handle the new tech devices and the Internet. But now most parents are in their late 20s and 30s growing up with the Internet and having smartphones for almost two decades now. Apple has parental controls in settings for parents. To protect children we can also regulate big social media companies. Why does the government has to scan every device from phone to desktop pcs? Because it’s not about children.

I get what you’re - and others - are saying.

As everyone discussed a few years ago when Apple was rolling out its own CSAM solution which could be easily manipulated by secret government requests.

I don't believe though that this request is asking Google or Apple to ‘phone home’. They just want it to work like an on device ad blocker.

What you’re talking about though, doesn’t stop young people from taking certain photos & then showing it to other young people in their photo library. Ditto on their laptop after school.

And there’s always going to be parents who don’t understand how to use ios / android parental controls.

I know you won’t believe me here, but for people who aren’t that interested in tech, both iOS and android are getting pretty complicated and unwieldy now.

And for those who are worried about the very concept of their phone snooping through their stuff.

Well, we are all on the verge of allowing local on device LLM assistants to do just that & most likely we will not have a clue about how they are built and what they will be actually doing.

 

[code-m]

I get what you’re - and others - are saying.

As everyone discussed a few years ago when Apple was rolling out its own CSAM solution could be easily manipulated.

I don't believe though that this request is asking Google or Apple to ‘phone home’. They just want it to work like an on device ad blocker.

What you’re talking about though, doesn’t stop young people from taking certain photos & then showing it to other young people in their photo library. Ditto on their laptop after school.

And there’s always going to be parents who don’t understand how to use ios / android parental controls.

I know you won’t believe me here, but for people who aren’t that interested in tech, both iOS and android are getting pretty complicated and unwieldy now.

And for those who are worried about the very concept of their phone snooping through their stuff.

Well, we are all on the verge of allowing local on device LLM assistants to do just that & most likely we will not have a clue about how they are built and what they will be actually doing.

Marvellous, I pay for a device to monitor me without my consent. Got to love the definition of free at its most perverse.

 

[tomtad]

Fascísm is engulfing the entire planet 😭

How is preventing children seeing billions of harmful porn images/videos online fascism?

Seems quite a sensible idea to bake this protection into the hardware itself rather than blocking it by the means of blocking VPNs etc.

 

[Mousse]

I thought all the Christian Sharia left the UK for the colonies back in the 1600's. Looks like some of the Yanks have infiltrated y'all government.😁

 

[JSRinUK]

In order for “explicit images” to be blocked, every image will need to be scanned - allowing our overlords to compile a massive dataset into our lives. Family photos, snapshots, everything.

As usual, it’s not about the kids. It’s about control.

 

[Starfia]

YES OF COURSE. THIS WILL PUT AN END TO PEOPLE ATTACKING OTHER PEOPLE IN PERSON.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Home Office officials want device operating systems to prevent any nudity from being displayed unless users can verify that they're adults through biometric checks or official ID.

This is absolutely freakin' insane.

Users OWN devices verifying their age before they can view certain content?

This is Orwellian to the max.

 

[bluecoast]

This post is sponsored by the UK government

Ok go and read this and tell me that there’s not an issue:

Strangulation During Sex in the UK - Institute for Addressing Strangulation

The Institute for Addressing Strangulation was established in 2022 following the introduction of new legislation on strangulation and suffocation as a stand-alone offence.

ifas.org.uk

Or this from 2019 - I can’t believe that the situation is not worse now:

'A man tried to choke me during sex without warning'

Research for BBC Radio 5 Live suggests a third of women have experienced unwanted violence during consensual sex.

www.bbc.co.uk

I’m no prude, but people are growing up with a really warped view of sex.

One of the side effects from having all this ‘freedom’.

 

[212rikanmofo]

All built for "child safety and convenience". Yeah right.

 

[jaymc]

All governments want digital ID and they’ll use any boogieman to get it. They want to track you. They want to know every time you access anything and what you’re doing. Porn is a great one to lock behind a tracking system because then you can blackmail potential opposition because they watched some raunchy video.

Or maybe evil corporations are paying out huge to politicians to pass legislation for tracking information.

 

[Ta_whirimatea]

Is there something in these ‘skin filters’ where it searches by colour of skin (ie if you have a really bronzed tan or have applied a particularly orange fake spray tan?!). Basically if your from the Essex area in England your screwed if you want to search for dodgy stuff online, or star in said stuff! 🤷

 

[Astuces iOS]

Keep it simple, block it for everyone… No one needs to see those bad images.