New UK Law Would Force Tech Firms to Take Down Abusive Images Quickly
The government stated that abuse involving such images should be treated as seriously as child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and terrorist content. Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to 10% of global revenue or risk having their services blocked in the UK.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the initiative as part of an “ongoing battle” with platform providers to protect victims. Janaya Walker, interim director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said the proposal “rightly places the responsibility on tech companies to act.”
The measure would be introduced through an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill currently under consideration in the House of Lords. It aims to simplify the reporting process: victims would only need to flag an image once, rather than notifying each platform individually.
Platforms would also be required to prevent the images from being re-uploaded.
The proposal provides guidance for internet service providers to block access to websites hosting illegal content, targeting sites that currently fall outside the scope of the Online Safety Act.
Statistics indicate that women, girls, and LGBT individuals are disproportionately affected by intimate image abuse (IIA). A government report in July 2025 found that young men and boys were often victims of financial sexual extortion, or “sextortion,” where victims are pressured to pay to prevent the distribution of their images. Meanwhile, a Parliamentary report in May 2025 noted a 20.9% increase in reports of intimate image abuse in 2024.
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