The UK government has announced tough new plans to make senior tech executives personally responsible if their platforms fail to remove non-consensual intimate images. Tech Secretary Liz Kendall says the move will protect women and girls from devastating online abuse. At the same time ministers are banning certain types of harmful pornography including depictions of incest and adults roleplaying as children.
This latest crackdown builds on earlier rules that already force platforms to act fast. It signals a major shift in how Britain holds big tech accountable.
Tech Leaders Now Face Personal Risk
Senior executives at major platforms could face jail time or hefty fines if they ignore orders from regulator Ofcom to take down abusive content. The new amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill targets those who fail to act without a reasonable excuse.
Kendall made the position clear. She said too many women have had their lives shattered by intimate images shared online without consent. The government told platforms in February they must remove reported non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours. Now it is going further by making individual leaders answerable.
Protecting women and girls online is not optional.
It sits squarely with every tech company’s leadership. This personal liability aims to change behaviour at the top. Previously fines could hit platforms up to 10 percent of global revenue or even lead to services being blocked in the UK. Personal consequences for bosses add a sharper edge.
Campaigners have welcomed the news. Groups like Refuge and End Violence Against Women have long called for stronger action on image based sexual abuse. They describe it as a national emergency that disproportionately harms women. Data from the Revenge Porn Helpline shows thousands of cases each year with women making up the vast majority of victims.
How The Rules Will Work In Practice
The changes fit within the Online Safety Act framework. Ofcom already has powers to enforce duties on platforms. Under the new measures if Ofcom issues a formal notice and the company does not comply senior executives can be held criminally liable.
This builds directly on the 48 hour removal rule introduced earlier this year. Victims should no longer have to chase multiple platforms or wait days for images to disappear. Once reported the content must come down quickly and platforms should prevent re-uploads where possible.
Key points include:
- Executives face imprisonment fines or both for non-compliance
- Focus remains on non-consensual intimate images including deepfakes
- Ofcom will continue to treat this as a priority issue alongside child safety and terrorism content
The amendment will be debated in the Commons next week. Details are still being finalised but the direction is firm. Ministers want to send a clear message that days of tech firms having a free pass are over.
Background On Britain’s Online Safety Push
Britain has ramped up efforts to make the internet safer over recent years. The Online Safety Act 2023 placed new duties on platforms to tackle illegal and harmful content. Sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent is already a criminal offence.
Earlier steps included making creation of non-consensual deepfakes illegal and banning nudification apps that generate fake explicit images. The government has also prioritised violence against women and girls as a key area with a goal to halve it within a decade.
Statistics paint a worrying picture. Police recorded sexual offences rose with image based abuse and cyberflashing accounting for a large part of the increase. The Revenge Porn Helpline handled over 22,000 reports in 2024 alone a rise of more than 20 percent from the previous year. Many victims face ongoing harassment threats and mental health struggles long after the initial sharing.
One in three women report experiencing online abuse according to some studies. For many the images spread rapidly across platforms making removal feel impossible without strong enforcement.
Banning Harmful Porn Genres
Alongside the tech liability measures the government announced plans to criminalise possession and publication of pornography depicting incest or adults roleplaying as children. This follows work by Tory peer Baroness Gabby Bertin who led an independent review into online pornography.
The bans cover:
- Pornography showing illegal sexual conduct between family members
- Content involving step or foster relations where one person pretends to be under 18
- Material where an adult roleplays as a child
Penalties can reach five years in prison for publication offences. Ministers say such content normalises abuse and has real world consequences. It builds on previous bans including pornography depicting strangulation.
Baroness Bertin welcomed the government’s action. She highlighted how this content is freely available online and can fuel harmful attitudes. Campaigners argue it particularly risks normalising child sexual abuse and abusive family dynamics.
What This Means For Victims Industry And Society
For victims the changes offer hope of faster relief and stronger deterrence. No longer will women have to repeatedly report the same image across different sites while their privacy and dignity are violated. The personal stake for executives may encourage better systems for detection and removal including use of hashing technology to block re-uploads automatically.
The tech industry faces new pressures. While many platforms already remove harmful content when flagged the threat of individual liability could lead to more proactive measures. Some may worry about over-removal of legitimate content or the practical challenges of operating globally while meeting strict UK timelines.
Yet supporters point out that big tech has the resources and technology to do better. With artificial intelligence making deepfakes easier to create the need for robust safeguards grows daily.
This package of measures shows the UK leading in online regulation. It combines platform duties with individual accountability and targeted content bans. The approach aims to shift responsibility from victims to those with the power to prevent harm.
As the bill moves forward questions remain about implementation details and how courts will interpret reasonable excuses. Ofcom will play a central role in enforcement and its guidance will matter greatly.
The government insists protecting women and girls must come first. These steps form part of a wider strategy that includes better support services and education to tackle violence against women and girls.
In the end the success will be measured by real change in victims’ experiences. Fewer shattered lives. Faster justice. And platforms that treat safety as a core duty rather than an afterthought.
What are your thoughts on holding tech executives personally accountable? Do you believe these measures will make a real difference online? Share your views in the comments below. Your experiences and opinions help shape the conversation around safer internet spaces for everyone.
