Since the Online Safety Act took effect in late July, UK internet users have made it very clear to their politicians that they do not want anything to do with this censorship regime. Just days after age checks came into effect, VPN apps became the most downloaded on Apple's App Store in the UK, and a petition calling for the repeal of the Online Safety Act (OSA) hit over 400,000 signatures.
In the months since, more than 550,000 people have petitioned Parliament to repeal or reform the Online Safety Act, making it one of the largest public expressions of concern about a UK digital law in recent history. The OSA has galvanized swathes of the UK population, and it’s high time for politicians to take that seriously.
Last week, EFF joined Open Rights Group, Big Brother Watch, and Index on Censorship in sending a briefing to UK politicians urging them to listen to their constituents and repeal the Online Safety Act ahead of this week’s Parliamentary petition debate on 15 December.
The legislation is a threat to user privacy, restricts free expression by arbitrating speech online, exposes users to algorithmic discrimination through face checks, and effectively blocks millions of people without a personal device or form of ID from accessing the internet. The briefing highlights how, in the months since the OSA came into effect, we have seen the legislation:
- Make it harder for not-for-profits and community groups to run their own websites.
- Result in the wrong types of content being taken down.
- Lead to age-assurance being applied widely to all sorts of content.
Our briefing continues:
“Those raising concerns about the Online Safety Act are not opposing child safety. They are asking for a law that does both: protects children and respects fundamental rights, including children’s own freedom of expression rights.”
The petition shows that hundreds of thousands of people feel the current Act tilts too far, creating unnecessary risks for free expression and ordinary online life. With sensible adjustments, Parliament can restore confidence that online safety and freedom of expression rights can coexist.
If the UK really wants to achieve its goal of being the safest place in the world to go online, it must lead the way in introducing policies that actually protect all users—including children—rather than pushing the enforcement of legislation that harms the very people it was meant to protect.
Read the briefing in full here.
