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#saveoursites

2 posts1 participant0 posts today

Wikipedia are going to court over the UK Online Safety Act!

Saddling platforms with hefty duties and penalties under the new regime will cause many safe sites to fold.

We can't lose the best of the web due to laws that were meant to tackle the worst of it.

#SaveOurSites

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62j2g

A stock image showing a screenshot of Wikipedia's logo - a globe constructed out of jigsaw piece like elements bearing letters in different global alphabets -  on a mobile phone. The text in the image reads "Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia"
BBC NewsWikipedia legally challenges 'flawed' online safety rulesIt argues the regulations could threaten the privacy and safety of Wikipedia's volunteer contributors.

With over 1600 pages of guidance on Online Safety duties, Ofcom (UK) has dealt a sucker punch to small blogs, forums and fedi instances.

Onerous duties with the threat of fines has led to many sites shutting down already.

Only the largest companies that engineer harms can realistically comply.

#SaveOurSites

theguardian.com/technology/202

The Guardian · Ofcom announces new rules for tech firms to keep children safe onlineBy Dan Milmo
Continued thread

Under the UK Online Safety Act, small blogs, forums and fedi instances are faced with disproportionate requirements to:

⚫️ Check if they have UK users

⚫️ Do a risk assessment on whether kids might access the content, or if CSAM or terrorist material might be posted in the comments

⚫️ Put themselves at the risk of fines, and even prison sentences, if they fail to comply with Ofcom’s future directives

#SaveOurSites 🌐

Protect Net Plurality! 🦾

Broad brush duties under the UK Online Safety Act threaten any website with possible penalties.

Small, safe sites can't shoulder this burden. We'll see the lights going out on blogs, Fedi instances and forums from 17 March with a devastating impact for online communities.

The Fediverse is under attack!

We must #SaveOurSites 🌐

openrightsgroup.org/blog/save-

Open Rights GroupSave our Sites: Deadline 17 MarchIncredible as it may seem, thanks to the Online Safety Act, dozens of harmless, safe, small websites are closing down by 17 March, rather than face threats of fines that could lose their operators their homes.

Save Our Sites!

Faced with fines under the UK Online Safety Act, dozens of harmless, safe, small websites will shut down by the 17 March deadline. This is a threat to net plurality and federated social media!

The Secretary of State has powers to change the categorisation of sites under the OSA.

The UK government must act quickly to exempt small and harmless sites that don't experience problems.

openrightsgroup.org/blog/save-

Open Rights GroupSave our Sites: Deadline 17 MarchIncredible as it may seem, thanks to the Online Safety Act, dozens of harmless, safe, small websites are closing down by 17 March, rather than face threats of fines that could lose their operators their homes.