This week's net.wars, "Drought conditions", finds mad government advice and visit the decision in Wikipedia's case against categorization in the Online Safety Act: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/08/15/drought-conditions/ #NetWars #OnlineSafetyAct #water #UK
onlinesafetyact
“We’re seeing teens being prevented from accessing content about sexual health, politics and news.
If adults want to see this content, they are forced to prove how old they are with unregulated age verification companies.
Meanwhile, small websites are closing down because they are worried about being fined because of these onerous demands.”
🗣️ ORG's @JamesBaker
#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #freedomofexpression #censorship #ukpolitics
This is what I was trying to explain about the UK's #OnlineSafetyAct xxx
📢 The UK Online Safety Act claims another victim: Haiku OS community forums
From March 2025, UK users will lose access to Haiku's forums due to the unsustainable legal requirements of the new Online Safety Act. Small open-source communities shouldn't have to choose between legal risks and serving their users.
Read more about this concerning development and its implications for open source communities:
https://www.desktoponfire.com/haiku_inc/701/open-source-under-pressure-haiku-forums-exit-uk-over-safety-act/
#OpenSource #HaikuOS #DigitalRights #OnlineSafetyAct #UK #FOSS
🚨 Time is Running Out to Save Encryption 🔐
Ofcom is consulting on implementing message scanning powers in the UK Online Safety Act.
This would break end-to-end encryption on the messaging apps we all use!
⏰ CLOSES Monday 10 March, 5pm.
Use our tool to tell Ofcom #PracticeSafeText 💬
ACT NOW ⬇️
https://action.openrightsgroup.org/48-hours-tell-ofcom-practice-safe-text
#e2ee #encryption #OnlineSafetyAct #ukpolitics #ukpol #privacy #ofcom #security #cybersecurity #whatsapp #signal
Edited 186d ago
Remember, UK Technology Minister Peter Kyle thinks we're all 'peados'
This is the state of British politics right now, the state of UKGOV
Wikipedia @wikimediauk are going to court over the UK Online Safety Act!
Saddling platforms with hefty duties and penalties under the new regime will cause many safe sites to fold.
We can't lose the best of the web due to laws that were meant to tackle the worst of it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62j2gr8866o
#OnlineSafetyAct #OSA #NetPlurality #ukpol #ukpolitics #wikipedia #freedomofexpression
Edited 121d ago
Bluesky will be age-gating content for UK users. It’s your privacy that pays.
The UK Online Safety Act has unleashed an unregulated market in age verification.
That we have to do these intrusive checks with countless providers for different platforms is dangerous.
https://www.theverge.com/news/704468/bluesky-age-verification-uk-online-safety-act
#onlinesafetyact #ageverification #ageassurance #privacy #dataprotection #data #biometrics #onlinesafety #ukpolitics #ukpol #bluesky
This week's net.wars, "A thousand small safety acts", talks to lawyer @neil about the Online Safety Act's impact on the community Internet - the small web boards, forums, chat channels, projects, and volunteer services: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/06/20/a-thousand-small-safety-acts/ #NetWars #FreeSpeech #OnlineSafetyAct #UKPol
Parts of the Internet are going dark for UK users since the Online Safety Act heaped weighty duties on platforms.
Sites are geoblocking the UK, overmoderating content, age-gating access or shutting down completely.
We need your help to track how content is being censored 🫵
Use our tool to report a site that's shutting down or restricting access to UK users as a result of the #OSA.
➡️ https://www.blocked.org.uk/osa-blocks
#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #censorship #freespeech #ukpolitics #ukpol
In this week's net.wars, "Cautionary tales", I consider becoming a child for the purposes of age verification, and Substack becomes a unicorn. Dare we predict enshittification? https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/07/18/cautionary-tales/ #NetWars #OnlineSafetyAct #AgeVerification #Substack #VentureCapital #HumanRights
Edited 53d ago
Today - 25 July - is the deadline for user-to-user services subject to the UK's Online Safety Act to have "highly effective age assurance" in place for UK users, if the site's content requires it. (Not all sites/content require age assurance.)
*Please* be careful, especially if you are in the UK.
Think before handing over ID documents, and be especially mindful of mistyped URLs and other scams, trying to obtain your personal data for phishing or blackmail purposes.
Age verification is creating an information desert.
The Online Safety Act sets every UK user to child as default.
Teenagers? Blocked. Adults? Content denied unless we do age checks with unregulated companies.
It's not just porn! News on Gaza and Ukraine is being scrubbed from view, threatening #freedomofexpression as well as #privacy ⛔
#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #OSA #palestine #gaza #ukraine #reddit #ageverification #ageassurance #censorship #ukpolitics #ukpol
Edited 41d ago
no more music for U-18s in UK 🙃
#OnlineSafetyAct #OSA #AgeVerification #Spotify #Tech #Technology #Privacy #Censorship #Surveillance
#AgeVerification: what's the harm?
In which I distill a lot of casual pub chats I've had with friends into a layperson's guide to the #OnlineSafetyAct. What it is, the problems it causes, and why you should definitely care.
https://www.girlonthenet.com/blog/age-verification-whats-the-harm/