UK Online Safety Act: Difference between revisions
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===Wikipedia=== | ===Wikipedia=== | ||
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), which owns the digital encyclopedia platform | The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), which owns the digital encyclopedia platform Wikipedia, sued the United Kingdom to prevent them from forcing age checks on their websites. The WMF made a statement that being forced to comply with this act would compromise the privacy of its editors and the neutrality of the encyclopedia. On 11 August 2025, the London High Court denied the WMF's reasoning, but didn't necessarily force age checks for the website.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castro |first=Chiara |date=August 12, 2025 |title=Case dismissed – Wikipedia loses UK Online Safety Act legal challenge, but it may still be safe from age checks |url=https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/case-dismissed-wikipedia-loses-uk-online-safety-act-legal-challenge-but-it-may-still-be-safe-from-age-checks |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260206093500/https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/case-dismissed-wikipedia-loses-uk-online-safety-act-legal-challenge-but-it-may-still-be-safe-from-age-checks |archive-date=6 Feb 2026}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=11 August 2025 |title=Wikimedia Foundation Challenges UK Online Safety Act Regulations |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/08/11/wikimedia-foundation-challenges-uk-online-safety-act-regulations/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250912103928/https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/08/11/wikimedia-foundation-challenges-uk-online-safety-act-regulations/ |archive-date=12 Sep 2025}}</ref> | ||
===4Chan=== | ===4Chan=== | ||
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===Discord Third-Party Customer Service (5CA)=== | ===Discord Third-Party Customer Service (5CA)=== | ||
{{Main|Discord / 5CA Data Breach}} | |||
On 3 October 2025, [[Discord]] issued a press release announcing "a Security Incident Involving Third-Party Customer Service [5CA]", in which "The unauthorized party [...] gained access to a small number of government‑ID images (e.g., driver’s license, passport) from users who had appealed an age determination".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-03 |title=Update on a Security Incident Involving Third-Party Customer Service |url=https://discord.com/press-releases/update-on-security-incident-involving-third-party-customer-service |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251006163040/https://discord.com/press-releases/update-on-security-incident-involving-third-party-customer-service |archive-date=2025-10-06 |access-date=2025-10-07 |website=discord.com}}</ref> The total number of ID images exposed was approximately 70,000. The data accessed came from an age-related appeals process which has been in place since before the OSA came into effect, and is used in conjunction with an "Automatic Age Check" system using k-ID.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-19 |title=Help! I'm old enough to use Discord in my country but I got locked out? |url=https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041820932-Help-I-m-old-enough-to-use-Discord-in-my-country-but-I-got-locked-out |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250127212200/https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041820932-Help-I-m-old-enough-to-use-Discord-in-my-country-but-I-got-locked-out |archive-date=27 Jan 2025 |access-date=2025-10-13 |website=Discord}}</ref> | On 3 October 2025, [[Discord]] issued a press release announcing "a Security Incident Involving Third-Party Customer Service [5CA]", in which "The unauthorized party [...] gained access to a small number of government‑ID images (e.g., driver’s license, passport) from users who had appealed an age determination".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-03 |title=Update on a Security Incident Involving Third-Party Customer Service |url=https://discord.com/press-releases/update-on-security-incident-involving-third-party-customer-service |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251006163040/https://discord.com/press-releases/update-on-security-incident-involving-third-party-customer-service |archive-date=2025-10-06 |access-date=2025-10-07 |website=discord.com}}</ref> The total number of ID images exposed was approximately 70,000. The data accessed came from an age-related appeals process which has been in place since before the OSA came into effect, and is used in conjunction with an "Automatic Age Check" system using k-ID.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-19 |title=Help! I'm old enough to use Discord in my country but I got locked out? |url=https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041820932-Help-I-m-old-enough-to-use-Discord-in-my-country-but-I-got-locked-out |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250127212200/https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041820932-Help-I-m-old-enough-to-use-Discord-in-my-country-but-I-got-locked-out |archive-date=27 Jan 2025 |access-date=2025-10-13 |website=Discord}}</ref> | ||
==Consumer response== | ==Consumer response== | ||
According to analysis by Cloudwards, [[Google]] searches for "how to get around age verification" and "is VPN legal in the UK" saw a massive growth of over 450 thousand and 380 thousand percent respectively.<ref name=":5" /> United Kingdom saw an increased VPN usage by 1400 percent.<ref name="UK_VPN">{{Cite web |last=Speed |first=Richard |date=July 28, 2025 |title=UK VPN demand soars after debut of Online Safety Act |url=https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/28/uk_vpn_demand_soars/ |access-date=August 15, 2025 |website=The Register |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260211054348/https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/28/uk_vpn_demand_soars/ |archive-date=11 Feb 2026}}</ref> As of 16 August 2025, there has been at least 500 thousand signatures petitioning to repeal the act.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Baynham |first=Alex |date=2025-04-22 |title=Repeal the Online Safety Act |url=https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/722903 |website=Petitions: UK Government and Parliament |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260128065314/https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/722903 |archive-date=28 Jan 2026}}</ref> | According to analysis by Cloudwards, [[Google]] searches for "how to get around age verification" and "is VPN legal in the UK" saw a massive growth of over 450 thousand and 380 thousand percent respectively.<ref name=":5" /> United Kingdom saw an increased VPN usage by 1400 percent.<ref name="UK_VPN">{{Cite web |last=Speed |first=Richard |date=July 28, 2025 |title=UK VPN demand soars after debut of Online Safety Act |url=https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/28/uk_vpn_demand_soars/ |access-date=August 15, 2025 |website=The Register |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260211054348/https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/28/uk_vpn_demand_soars/ |archive-date=11 Feb 2026}}</ref> As of 16 August 2025, there has been at least 500 thousand signatures petitioning to repeal the act.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Baynham |first=Alex |date=2025-04-22 |title=Repeal the Online Safety Act |url=https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/722903 |website=Petitions: UK Government and Parliament |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260128065314/https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/722903 |archive-date=28 Jan 2026}}</ref> | ||
One of the issues with age verification of children is that they may not have identity verification documents such as a credit card or driving license<ref>{{Cite news |date=2026-06-16 |title=Five big questions about the UK's under-16s social media ban |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9824zvpz9po |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260616152325/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9824zvpz9po |archive-date=2026-06-16 |access-date=2026-06-16 |work=BBC News |pages=Section 4}}</ref>, so to require such documents would limit accessibility of a service. Facial and expression analysis have been used, but this is also known to have flaws such as some being bypassed by underage users drawing mustaches on their face<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zack |first=Whittaker |date=2026-05-06 |title=Some kids are bypassing age-verification checks with a fake mustache |url=https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/06/some-kids-are-bypassing-age-verification-checks-with-a-fake-mustache/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260526080752/https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/06/some-kids-are-bypassing-age-verification-checks-with-a-fake-mustache/ |archive-date=2026-05-26 |access-date=2026-06-16 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref>. | |||
===OnlineSafetyAct.co.uk=== | ===OnlineSafetyAct.co.uk=== | ||
[https://onlinesafetyact.co.uk | [https://onlinesafetyact.co.uk/ OnlineSafetyAct.co.uk] is a website which was created in response to the Act's implementation and is operated by Neil Brown,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Neil |title=OnlineSafetyAct.co.uk |url=https://onlinesafetyact.co.uk/contact/ |access-date=2025-08-16 |website=OnlineSafetyAct.co.uk}} ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260210232703/https://onlinesafetyact.co.uk/ Archived])</ref> a UK tech lawyer ([https://decoded.legal decoded.legal]).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Neil |title=Neil Brown (@[email protected]) |url=https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/@neil |access-date=2025-08-16 |website=mastodon.neilzone.co.uk |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260216062932/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/@neil |archive-date=16 Feb 2026}}</ref> It lists all of the websites affected by the Online Safety Act, with the help of user submissions. | ||
===Use Their ID=== | ===Use Their ID=== | ||
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<blockquote>The internet must remain a place where all voices can be heard, free from discrimination or censorship by government agencies. 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collings |first=Paige |date=2025-08-01 |title=No, the UK’s Online Safety Act Doesn’t Make Children Safer Online |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/no-uks-online-safety-act-doesnt-make-children-safer-online |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250812070622/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/no-uks-online-safety-act-doesnt-make-children-safer-online |archive-date=2025-08-12 |access-date=2025-08-17 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation}}</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>The internet must remain a place where all voices can be heard, free from discrimination or censorship by government agencies. 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collings |first=Paige |date=2025-08-01 |title=No, the UK’s Online Safety Act Doesn’t Make Children Safer Online |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/no-uks-online-safety-act-doesnt-make-children-safer-online |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250812070622/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/no-uks-online-safety-act-doesnt-make-children-safer-online |archive-date=2025-08-12 |access-date=2025-08-17 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation}}</ref></blockquote> | ||
===Theo Browne, YouTuber | ===Theo Browne, YouTuber and CEO at T3 Chat=== | ||
[[File:Online Safety Act | [[File:UK Online Safety Act offloading responsibility.png|thumb|Parents, government, platforms, identity providers]] | ||
Theo posted a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TZozNjPcGw YouTube video] covering the Online Safety Act and how it going to destroy the free internet if the internet community doesn't stop it ASAP. He said it's rare that he gets that extreme about something like this, but believes that it is a really important thing that the community jump in front of. | |||
The Online Safety Act will normalise providing your government-issued identification in order to see content, making everyone more susceptible and vulnerable to phishing attacks perpetrated by identity thieves. The act also shifts the responsibility of child safety to the government, who in turn shift it to the websites, who in turn shift it to a brand new identity and age verification industry. | The Online Safety Act will normalise providing your government-issued identification in order to see content, making everyone more susceptible and vulnerable to phishing attacks perpetrated by identity thieves. The act also shifts the responsibility of child safety to the government, who in turn shift it to the websites, who in turn shift it to a brand new identity and age verification industry. | ||
==Government response== | ==Government response== | ||
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[[Category: | [[Category:British legislation]] | ||