Apple Updates Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention Features in South Korea

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Apple announced on the 20th that it will introduce child protection features in six countries, including South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Brazil, and Belgium, through the iOS 16.4 update. Accordingly, a feature to prevent exposure to obscene materials, including nudity, on iPhones used by children will be added domestically.

The core of the child protection feature is that when children under the age of 14 (based on Korean standards) send or receive images with risks such as child sexual exploitation via the iPhone's Messages app (iMessage), a warning message is displayed on the device used by the child.

The feature is activated when parents directly opt in through the Family Sharing plan, and it is applied to the child's account. Whether the opt-in is enabled can also be checked in the Family Sharing plan. To activate the feature, the latest iOS update must be installed, and the account must be set as a family account in iCloud.

After activation, if inappropriate photos or content such as nudity are received on the child's iPhone, the content is immediately blocked, and a warning message is displayed to the child. Along with the warning, a reassuring message is also provided to assure the child that it is okay to reject inappropriate content.

The child protection feature is applied not only when inappropriate content is received but also when the child attempts to send inappropriate content, with the warning message displayed in the same manner.

Initially, when the child protection feature was activated, warning messages were displayed to both the child and the parents. However, in the United States, where the feature was first applied, concerns about invasion of the child's privacy were raised, so warnings no longer appear on the parents' devices. However, in both cases of sending and receiving inappropriate content, the child can choose to send a message requesting help to the guardian if desired.

An Apple representative stated, "This feature is designed so that records of detected inappropriate elements are not leaked outside the device," adding, "Apple has no access to the related messages, and no warning notifications are sent to parents or anyone else."