The UK is bracketing "intimate images shared without a victim's consent" along with terror and child sexual abuse material, and demanding that online platforms remove them within two days.

The government announced today that it would add an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill requiring platforms to "remove this content no more than 48 hours after it is flagged to them."

Platforms that do not do so would potentially face fines of 10 percent of "qualifying worldwide income" or have their services blocked in the UK.

The amendment follows outrage over the Elon Musk-owned chatbot Grok's willingness to generate nude or sexualized images of people, mainly women and girls, which forced a climbdown earlier this year.

Under the UK's proposals, victims would only have to report an abusive image once, and not have to contact multiple platforms or remain constantly vigilant for new uploads.

The government said: "Plans are currently being considered by Ofcom for these kinds of images to be treated with the same severity as child sexual abuse and terrorism content, digitally marking them so that any time someone tries to repost them, they will be automatically taken down."

It added that creating or sharing non-consensual intimate images will also become a "priority offence" under the Online Safety Act, "meaning this crime is treated with the same seriousness as child abuse or terrorism."

The government said: "We will publish guidance for internet providers setting out how they should block access to sites hosting this content, targeting rogue websites that may fall outside the reach of the Online Safety Act."

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said in a statement: "The days of tech firms having a free pass are over. Because of the action we are taking platforms must now find and remove intimate images shared without consent within a maximum of 48 hours."

X is facing an EU probe, under the Digital Services Act, into Grok's willingness to produce explicit imagery, including of children.

When the probe was announced last month, X told The Register: "We remain committed to making X a safe platform for everyone and continue to have zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content."

The UK government's latest move was welcomed by lawyer Hanna Basha, Dispute Resolution Partner from Payne Hicks Beach, who acted for TV personality Georgia Harrison in her civil revenge pornography case in 2022.

But she added: "Why 48 hours and not 24 or even 12? Every hour these images remain online compounds the harm."

She also said social media companies should be forced to display clear contact details. "Too often victims cannot even find where to report abusive content. This is a welcome step, but meaningful protection requires faster takedowns and real accountability from platforms." ®