UK Online Safety Act May Use 4chan as Justification for Wider Internet Censorship
By
gloxkiqcza
9mo ago· 10 min readenInsight
100/100
Golden Brown
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Baker's choice. Dense with flavour, light on filler.
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Summary
The article analyzes how the UK's Online Safety Act (OSA) could use controversial platforms like 4chan as 'poster children' to justify broader internet censorship and site-blocking measures. It discusses how the OSA, while claiming to protect children, has faced criticism for censoring legitimate content including war reporting and critical discussions of the Act itself. The legislation requires adults to prove their identity to access certain sites, treats unverified adults as children with content restrictions, and threatens large platforms with huge fines for allowing children to access age-inappropriate content.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledThe UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) claims to protect children but has faced fierce criticism for censoring everything from legitimate news reporting from war zones, to critical discussion of the Act itself.
There are many problems, not least a requirement for adults in the UK to prove their identity when accessing sites meeting criteria dictated by Ofcom.
Large sites, many in the United States, face huge fines for allowing children to access age-inappropriate content.
This means that unverified adults are treated as children with the same content restrictions.
The UK may need a Pirate Bay-style poster child to gain public support for national blocking of non-pirate sites under the Online Safety Act.
