Former minister calls for phone tech to block live-streamed child sex abuse

Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has joined calls from campaigners for the government to back new technology that blocks the live-streaming of child sexual abuse. The UK National Crime Agency has flagged the UK as the third biggest market in the world , external for live-streamed abuse, where children are sexually abused live on camera to order.

Device-level blockers can prevent this material being filmed and viewed on smartphones, laptops and tablets in the first place, Phillips said, at the launch of a policy report in Parliament. Anti-abuse campaigners claim keeping the technology at device level maintains privacy and encryption.

Civil liberties campaigners Big Brother Watch dispute this. The government has already legislated to demand tech firms like Apple and Google, which develop the operating systems of most smartphones used in the UK, block under-18s from taking or sharing nude images on smartphones and other devices.