Monday briefing: ​Why opponents of the Online Safety Act aren't ‘on Jimmy Savile's side'

The Guardian

2 days ago

Good morning. Any readers who have tried to visit a pornography site in the past week (don't worry, I won't tell anyone) will have come into contact with the Online Safety Act. One of the most controversial elements is that there are now firm checks to ensure those who access these sites from the UK are over 18.
But it goes much further than regulating porn. This legislation is an overhaul of how we live online in the UK, and a growing list of sites – including gaming platforms and social networks – will verify people's ages before letting them through the digital gates.
For years people have been raising alarms about the damage the online world does to our kids. The act beefs up hate speech laws and gives regulators greater powers to hold tech platforms accountable for failing to act on abusive or threatening content. It seems like an obvious win. Peter Kyle, the science and technology secretary, said anyone who wants to overturn the act is on the side of predators. 'It's as simple as that', he wrote on X.
But is it? On Saturday human rights organisations warned about censorship of Gaza-related content. Smearing all critics is shortsighted, and legitimate criticisms from human rights groups should be taken seriously, says Madeleine Stone, senior advocacy officer at Big Brother Watch, which campaigns for civil liberties and privacy. I spoke to her about concerns around data collection and free speech. That's after the headlines.
Israel-Gaza war | At least 27 people were killed by Israeli forces while trying to get food and six others died from starvation or malnutrition in Gaza on Sunday, Palestinian officials said.
UK news | Millions of drivers could be handed a share of up to £18bn in compensation, after the ​F​inancial Conduct Authority said it would open a redress scheme for consumers affected by the car finance scandal.
Gaza | The ​government ​has announced it will evacuate seriously ill and injured children from Gaza to the UK for NHS treatment under a scheme to be announced within weeks.
Immigration | Ministers will spend an extra £100m on measures to deter Channel crossings, including on the planned 'one in, one out' returns agreement with France, the Home Office has said.
Plastics | Plastics are a 'grave, growing and under-recognised danger' to human and planetary health, a new expert review has warned. The world is in a 'plastics crisis', it concluded, which is causing disease and death from infancy to old age and is responsible for at least $1.5tn (£1.1tn) a year in health-related damages.
As of 25 July, websites and apps are required to protect children by filtering out harmful content and verifying ages. Failing to regulate content could lead to hefty fines, criminal charges or even being entirely blocked in the UK. In case you missed it, Aamna did a great explainer about this last week.
Kyle said it was 'the biggest step forward for a young person's experience online since the internet was created' and that a whole generation of children had been exposed to 'torrid toxic material' because of the failure of politicians. He took aim at politicians like Reform leader, Nigel Farage, who oppose the law: 'Make no mistake if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today he would be perpetrating his crimes online - and Nigel Farage is saying he is on their side.' Inevitably, there was a backlash to Kyle's comments.
'I don't want it to be framed like we're in opposition to the children's rights group, or that we don't think that there are risks to children online. Of course, there are,' says Stone. 'I don't think anyone would deny that there are good intentions behind this bill.'
However, Stone believes that there are ways to keep children safe online that don't require uploading scans of our faces or IDs to potentially porous tech companies, thus triggering legitimate privacy concerns. She said it was disappointing the main calls from Labour and the opposition have been for it to be as comprehensive as possible – and that there wasn't much discussion about civil liberties. Meanwhile, Reform UK has promised to repeal the act if it gets into office, describing it as 'borderline dystopian', as it becomes a rallying point for the right in both Britain and the US.
What are the data concerns with the act?
Much of the focus has been on porn sites but social media, forums, gaming platforms and other sites that could show content considered harmful for children are also now required to verify that users are aged 18 or older. Using methods such as photo-ID matching, AI facial age estimation, credit and debit card checks, mobile operator verification, open banking and digital ID wallets, this is a massive undertaking.
Already 5m extra online age checks a day (yes, every day) are being carried out in the UK since the introduction of age-gating for pornography sites alone, according to new data from the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA).
This legislation, which applies to more than 100,000 companies, includes major platforms like Facebook, Google, X, Reddit, OnlyFans (and other less established sites that you might not wish to trust with your personal data). The public is having to choose between 'not being able to freely access the internet, or handing over huge troves of personal data to a series of third party companies, which is open to hacking, to data breaches and data theft,' says Stone.
What are the risks of companies having this data?
Big Brother Watch is concerned that taking this additional data from people creates databases of sensitive information that would be devastating for individuals if it was hacked, leaked or stolen. Stone says: 'This broad spectrum of third party companies will be holding some of the most personal data about you, and then that will be linked to your internet browsing. And that can be very dangerous.' She highlights particular concerns for LGBTQ+ people – with commonly used dating sites like Grindr and Scruff requiring checks – people who are victims of domestic violence or stalking, whistleblowers, and journalists.
There is an ecosystem of companies involved in getting access to people's data – companies that are being forced to undertake the checks, and then the companies that are providing the technology to do those checks. 'It only takes one dodgy age verification website to leak someone's data,' says Stone.
Some have suggested that the government could regulate age, instead of outsourcing this regulation to third-party companies. 'I think the flip side of that is, do you want the government to have a record of who's using porn sites … As we know the government is not great with data leaks and breaches. I think there's not really a good option here if you're thinking about collecting that deeply personal data.'
What are key concerns about free speech?
Human rights organisations have warned that the Online Safety Act together with the proscription of Palestine Action could result in platforms censoring Palestinian-related content.
Open Rights Group, Index on Censorship and others wrote to Ofcom calling on it to provide clear guidance to platforms on distinguishing lawful expression from content deemed to be in support of terrorism. Their concern is that crucial public debate is threatened by vague laws that could lead to content about Palestine being removed or hidden online.
Stone argues that the act has been drafted in an 'overly broad way' which means that legitimate political, cultural and societal discussions could be restricted.
'We're seeing political speech being taken down, as with content related to Gaza. We're seeing support groups, sites for people with alcohol problems or people who've been sexually assaulted being blocked as well,' she says. Blocking children from accessing support groups like this is a major unintended consequence, and the very opposite of the Jimmy Savile comparisons that Peter Kyle leveled at opponents of the act.
'It's so important that we're able to have those discussions,' Stone says. 'You know, the internet has become our new kind of town square,' describing attempts to control these discussions as a 'dark place for a democracy to be in'. She adds: 'That content might not always be super pleasant, but it is still legally protected free speech. There is real importance in being able to have those discussions and change people's minds.'
What alternatives are there?
Stone describes the Online Safety Act as a 'failure of imagination', saying that it fails to 'properly get to grips with the problems at the heart of social media companies'. She says a big part of the problem is children spending hours online looking at content that is not healthy for them. By taking data, social media platforms can create more highly personalised predictions about what we're interested in. 'You're sucked into dangerous loopholes. And that is a big part of the problem here - spending hours and hours and hours online,' says Stone.
Earlier this year a study found almost half of young people would rather live in a world where the internet does not exist. The research found nearly 70% of 16- to 21-year-olds feel worse about themselves after spending time on social media. A quarter of respondents spent four or more hours a day on social media.
'At Big Brother Watch, we've called for a ban on micro targeted advertising and the proper enforcement of data protection law that would really cut off at the knees some of these really intrusive business models,' says Stone. 'If we're not paying for something, then we are the product.'
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