UK Mandates 48-Hour Removal Rule for Social Media Platforms

New Legal Regulations and Heavy Sanctions The UK government has announced a comprehensive legislative change aimed at increasing the safety of women and girls in the digital world. Under the new regulation, technology companies will be required to delete non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours of a removal request. Platforms that fail to comply could face administrative fines of up to 10% of their global revenue or the risk of having their services completely blocked in the country. One-Time Notification and Automatic Deletion The system planned by the government aims to simplify the process for victims. With the new regulation, victims will only need to report the content they want removed once. When an image is reported, the system will ensure its removal from multiple platforms simultaneously, and new uploads of the content will be automatically detected and deleted. Ofcom, the UK's media regulator, will treat such content with the same level of seriousness as child abuse and terrorism materials. "The Battleground of the 21st Century" UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the online world as the "front line of the fight against violence against women and girls in the 21st century." Starmer emphasized that the government is taking urgent action against AI-based "nudification" tools and malicious chatbots. Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall also stated that the internet must be a safe space for women, noting that the legal regulation is a critical step toward ending these grievances.