UK Online Safety Bill

[Maxmars]

I am not a subject of the Crown, nor a citizen of the United Kingdom... by all rights I have no say or voice in this matter except as a foreigner...

But really?

What the hell have you guys been subject to that the social clamps became the means of coercion?  I guess guns aren't the only way you can be oppressed after all.

Societies choose governments because they need balance and peace... not to be herded and trained...
shit... we got some of that idea from lessons YOU guys learned first...

What are we missing that makes you want your children to live like this? 
Is it because "No change comes without pain!" is their mantra? 
You do realize that is a "political" threat, right?

Pardon the presumption...

[angelchemuel]

Whilst your comment is indeed valid, the "reach" of this bill stretches far far further. 

Its not just teenage Gr0t but anything deemed sensitive. We're a already seeing posts being out behind the "child protection" filter on the likes of Reddit and X and many more. 

Some examples deemed sensitive are MP's political speeches, anti 1mm1gr8tion comments etc.

have some David Bombal explanations ...

How the UK KILLED Privacy: The Online Safety Act Nightmare

Hi Cymru! *waves*
Rainbows
Jane

[Cymru]

Hi Cymru! *waves*
Rainbows
Jane

Afternoon Jane. x

[BeyondKnowledge]

You won't believe what the UK has just done. They are demanding 4chan comply with their law.




That is poking the bear, whacking the hornets nest, etc...

Popcorn stock prices are predicted to rise sharply as the show begins.

[UltraBudgie]

You won't believe what the UK has just done. They are demanding 4chan comply with their law.

[Video: https://youtube.com/iu3v8I420nI]

That is poking the bear, whacking the hornets nest, etc...

Popcorn stock prices are predicted to rise sharply as the show begins.

yea here's the investigation:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/i...al-content

4chan coming in strong:

https://x.com/prestonjbyrne/status/1956391746029428914

[BeyondKnowledge]

4chan is indeed leading the pushback. 




I wonder when the UK is going off line? 

I hope they wait for the courts to possibly react first. That would make it all the more embarrassing for the UK leaders.

[Vulture]

Children will always find a way. (Source, I was once a children.)

Protecting children online should be the parents job.  Not the governments job.  Who is going to protect them from stabbings or the sex rings going on over there?  The government doesn't seem to care too much about all that. 

[Vermilion]

From a free speech lawyer….

I am getting phone calls from buddies in London BigLaw about 4chan.

I suspect there are a lot of Americans who will want to replicate the playbook and are only just reading the caselaw and figuring it out for the first time now.

For context, I have been in the business of telling foreign governments where they can shove a censorship request for 8 years. This is very old hat for me.

Difference between then and now is that then they only targeted 2 or 3 American companies. Now they're targeting them all.

Funniest content takedown request I ever got was from the UK though. The Met Police's CTIRU unit once tried to convince a (conservative) client that an account should be banned because the account hosted speech critical of Donald Trump and Theresa May.

How we laughed.

The reason I know this shit is, for the last decade, almost nobody was willing to represent a free speech website. Polluters and white-collar crooks? Fine. Meanie words? Problem.

The law isn’t hard - they’ll catch up. After that, OSA/DSA enforcement will be nearly impossible.

I add. In all my years of doing this, across hundreds of takedown requests, from governments of all kinds (nuclear-armed and otherwise), intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, you name it...

...their compulsory takedown success rate vs Americans is 0% (zero per cent.)

The core takeaway point is this: for U.S. based platform operators, the First Amendment and related caselaw means that a takedown demand from a foreign government is not an order. It is a non-binding request.

The USA is the best place in the world to publish from.
To conclude this thread:

Australia, Canada, Europe - we see you.

Don't try it.

https://x.com/prestonjbyrne/status/1957977875552100495

[angelchemuel]

Hmmmmm, maybe this is why Trump is 'side-lining' Starmer?
e.g. where's Wally in this press photo in recent Russia/Ukraine talks?
Oh yeah..... cranning his neck at the back of the room!
Rainbows
Jane

[andy06shake]

Just an update as of 20/08/2025

It's still easy to circumvent the photo ID requirement with the use of services like "Free VPN for Chrome" and "Proton VPN."

Edit: Warning, it's been brought to my attention that some Free VPN software has been shown to take screenshots since this legislation was implemented.