Downing Street’s divisive digital policy came into effect last week to protect minors from internet pornography and ‘harmful’ websites.
The Online Safety Act, introduced on Friday 25th July, now means anyone accessing web addresses hosting adult or potentially dangerous content — including extreme violence, eating disorder, self-harm and suicide advocacy — must verify their age.
This can be done in number of ways, including facial recognition and photo ID. Any firm not complying with this regulation can be fined up to £18million or 10% of its annual turnover — whichever is greater.
Labour’s clearly stated intention has been to protect children from finding, viewing, and downloading materials which could cause mental or emotional distress, contribute to addictive or other forms of negative behaviour. However, the far-reaching policy has had a significant impact on many ‘innocent’ websites and platforms.
As of Tuesday 29th July, almost 400,000 people had signed an online petition demanding a repeal of the Online Safety Act. Many cited ‘hobby forums’ — amateur websites providing a space for people with shared interests — which do not have the necessary resources to comply, and are now faced with forced shut down as a result.
‘We think that Parliament should repeal the act and work towards producing proportionate legislation rather than risking clamping down on civil society talking about trains, football, video games or even hamsters,’ the petition reads.
Having far surpassed the required 100,000 signatures, the Government must now consider the appeal for parliamentary debate. Reform UK has been quick to pledge the rules would be reversed should the party win the next general election.
An official response has already been released from Downing Street, which explained the law was was not designed to ‘penalise small, low-risk services trying to comply in good faith’.
‘The Government has no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act, and is working closely with Ofcom to implement the act as quickly and effectively as possible to enable UK users to benefit from its protections,’ the statement read.
‘Ofcom – and the Government – recognise that many small services are dynamic small businesses supporting innovation and offer significant value to their communities,’ it continued. ‘Ofcom will take a sensible approach to enforcement with smaller services that present low risk to UK users, only taking action where it is proportionate and appropriate, and will focus on cases where the risk and impact of harm is highest.’
Image: Markus Petritz / Unsplash
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