#online-safety-act

#online-safety-act

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UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer cleared out the officials in charge of tech and digital law in a dramatic cabinet reshuffle at the weekend. Former work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has replaced Peter Kyle as science, innovation and technology secretary and will take over responsibility for the controversial Online Safety Act, which has drawn criticism with regard to privacy and censorship. Starmer was forced into the reshuffle after Angela Rayner resigned as deputy PM amid a media frenzy over her tax affairs - specifically, she underpaid stamp duty on a property.

"4chan is a United States company, incorporated in Delaware, with no establishment, assets, or operations in the United Kingdom. Any attempt to impose or enforce a penalty against 4chan will be resisted in US federal court. American businesses do not surrender their First Amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an e-mail."

Since the introduction of age verification rules under Britain's Online Safety Act, visits to popular adult sites have plummeted, with Pornhub losing over a million visitors.

"Encryption alone doesn't guarantee a secure connection. True security depends on how traffic is routed, what's exposed, and how much control the company has. With proxies, only selected traffic is routed, giving enterprises tighter control, lower attack surface, and better integration into existing security policies."

The Online Safety Act introduces a fundamental shift in how online services - both UK-based and international - must operate when accessible by UK users. Ofcom now holds wide-ranging investigatory and enforcement powers, making compliance not just a legal necessity, but an operational and ethical imperative.

Melanie Dawes emphasized the importance of upcoming age verification checks, stating, "It is a really big moment, because finally, the laws are coming into force. What happens at the end of this month is that we see the wider protections for children come online."

"As a Category 1 service, Wikipedia could face the most burdensome compliance obligations, which were designed to tackle some of the UK's riskiest websites."