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Dom 31 Jul @ 6:06am
UK's "Online Safety Act" is dystopian and dangerous
As a liberal myself, I value individual freedoms and human rights. I value privacy and data security. I value people's rights to be anonymous online if they wish, I value the right to be forgotten and I value free and open internet without mandated gates by the government.

I think Online Safety Act is a direct attack on many of these fundamental principles, and it massively changes the nature of the internet from what it's supposed to be. Ends don't automatically justify the means, and this is an example of a piece of legislation where the ends (protecting children) are good but means are simply far too extreme.

I'm also very concerned if we're starting to normalise the idea that people are going to hand IDs on the internet left and right, and what this could mean in the future. This kind of normalisation opens up endless possibilities for phising attacks and for cybercriminals to prosper. Identity theft is going to see an increase. If people are going to get desensitized to essentially give their most personally identifiable information whenever requested, that cannot result in anything good.

I hope this gets repealed, and if measures to protect children online are enacted elsewhere, they will never go as far as UK's Online Safety Act has gone.
Last edited by Dom; 31 Jul @ 6:07am
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Showing 1-15 of 92 comments
EASY PETE 31 Jul @ 6:07am 
I think it's great
#1
Punished Rusty Shackleford 31 Jul @ 6:11am 
the UK has the most media/literature about the dangers of police states yet instead of taking those as warnings they use it as blueprints to make their governments.
#2
TGC> The Games Collector 31 Jul @ 6:11am 
It's making the internet a safer place.

Now people won't die from web browsing anymore.
#3
eram 31 Jul @ 6:11am 
we should be protecting everyone
#4
salamander 31 Jul @ 6:12am 
Originally posted by Punished Rusty Shackleford:
the UK has the most media/literature about the dangers of police states yet instead of taking those as warnings they use it as blueprints to make their governments.

because the spectre of maggie never left
#5
=♥Ramelouisse♥= 31 Jul @ 6:14am 
Originally posted by Dom:
As a liberal myself, I value individual freedoms and human rights. I value privacy and data security. I value people's rights to be anonymous online if they wish, I value the right to be forgotten and I value free and open internet without mandated gates by the government.

I think Online Safety Act is a direct attack on many of these fundamental principles, and it massively changes the nature of the internet from what it's supposed to be. Ends don't automatically justify the means, and this is an example of a piece of legislation where the ends (protecting children) are good but means are simply far too extreme.

I'm also very concerned if we're starting to normalise the idea that people are going to hand IDs on the internet left and right, and what this could mean in the future. This kind of normalisation opens up endless possibilities for phising attacks and for cybercriminals to prosper. Identity theft is going to see an increase. If people are going to get desensitized to essentially give their most personally identifiable information whenever requested, that cannot result in anything good.

I hope this gets repealed, and if measures to protect children online are enacted elsewhere, they will never go as far as UK's Online Safety Act has gone.

It's 1984.
#6
Dom 31 Jul @ 6:18am 
Originally posted by TGC> The Games Collector:
It's making the internet a safer place.

Now people won't die from web browsing anymore.
And now people won't suffer from the dangers of Wikipedia anymore.
#7
=♥Ramelouisse♥= 31 Jul @ 6:19am 
Originally posted by Dom:
Originally posted by TGC> The Games Collector:
It's making the internet a safer place.

Now people won't die from web browsing anymore.
And now people won't suffer from the dangers of Wikipedia anymore.

now people can die in real life!
#8
St✩rlight 31 Jul @ 6:19am 
Originally posted by Punished Rusty Shackleford:
the UK has the most media/literature about the dangers of police states yet instead of taking those as warnings they use it as blueprints to make their governments.
It's not just the UK. Every politician, billionaire and big tech reads dystopian sci-fi and thinks it would be a great idea to just troll people because they are bored.
#9
Dom 31 Jul @ 6:43am 
Originally posted by St✩rlight:
Originally posted by Punished Rusty Shackleford:
the UK has the most media/literature about the dangers of police states yet instead of taking those as warnings they use it as blueprints to make their governments.
It's not just the UK. Every politician, billionaire and big tech reads dystopian sci-fi and thinks it would be a great idea to just troll people because they are bored.
To be fair, many big tech companies are fighting against this. One of the recent examples is Apple. They haven't had good times with the UK government lately.
#10
Rio ⛧ 31 Jul @ 6:44am 
Yeah well, I hear the EU wants similar

So I hope you like being in the EU
#11
=♥Ramelouisse♥= 31 Jul @ 6:44am 
Originally posted by Dom:
Originally posted by St✩rlight:
It's not just the UK. Every politician, billionaire and big tech reads dystopian sci-fi and thinks it would be a great idea to just troll people because they are bored.
To be fair, many big tech companies are fighting against this. One of the recent examples is Apple. They haven't had good times with the UK government lately.

Apple is only fighting against it because they can't impose it on their own terms.

Look at how they tried to "valiantly" fight a valid fine from the EU for spoofing their ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ store and imposing out of country taxes (illegal worldwide).
#12
=♥Ramelouisse♥= 31 Jul @ 6:48am 
Originally posted by Rio ⛧:
Yeah well, I hear the EU wants similar

So I hope you like being in the EU

EU Has DSA, and doens't want similar. If it did a vote would instantly pass to remove the law, and EU doesn't have such juridistiction.
#13
Rio ⛧ 31 Jul @ 6:53am 
Originally posted by =♥Ramelouisse♥=:
Originally posted by Rio ⛧:
Yeah well, I hear the EU wants similar

So I hope you like being in the EU

EU Has DSA, and doens't want similar. If it did a vote would instantly pass to remove the law, and EU doesn't have such juridistiction.

https://www.euractiv.com/section/tech/news/how-eu-countries-are-clamping-down-on-kids-access-to-social-media/

"Paris is working on implementing a ban as soon as the autumn session starts, according to a French government spokesperson,"

"Ireland
Starting this week, major video-sharing platforms established in Ireland – including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, Tumblr, Udemy, X and YouTube – are required under the country’s Online Safety Code to implement age checks and/or parental controls. "

"Spain
Spain’s draft bill on protecting minors online aims to restrict social media access for children under 16. The proposed legislation would set 16 as the minimum age for creating a social media account. "
#14
Dom 31 Jul @ 6:55am 
Originally posted by =♥Ramelouisse♥=:
Originally posted by Dom:
To be fair, many big tech companies are fighting against this. One of the recent examples is Apple. They haven't had good times with the UK government lately.

Apple is only fighting against it because they can't impose it on their own terms.

Look at how they tried to "valiantly" fight a valid fine from the EU for spoofing their ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ store and imposing out of country taxes (illegal worldwide).
It started with UK demanding that Apple breaks cloud encryption, they wanted backdoor access.

Originally posted by =♥Ramelouisse♥=:
Originally posted by Rio ⛧:
Yeah well, I hear the EU wants similar

So I hope you like being in the EU

EU Has DSA, and doens't want similar. If it did a vote would instantly pass to remove the law, and EU doesn't have such juridistiction.
My understanding is that DSA mainly applies to VLOPs (very large online platforms) and it's exactly done with the idea in mind that it won't put disproportionate requirements on any small websites.

UK Online Safety Act made several small websites quit their operations because they cannot ensure compliance with it, including a forum for cycling hobbyists.

And how DSA is at the moment designed, it won't require age verification. It's one tool that websites can use but it's not a blanket requirement.
#15
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Date Posted: 31 Jul @ 6:06am
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