From 'Surveillance society' to ‘papers please' society, readers discuss the OSA
It's clear that the Online Safety Act (OSA) is paving the way for compulsory digital ID. The government will say that the ID will make our lives easier because websites will automatically know whether we're over 18; rather than us having to manually prove our age each time.
This would make our lives easier, at the cost of the government (and various corporations) knowing what we're looking at, where we are and how we're spending our money. Deliberately or not, the people in power have found a way to sweeten the pill of digital ID. And the more power these people get, the more they'll want.
That's why we have to take a stand now, before we need to give out our personal details just to buy a pint of milk. It will sound ridiculous until it happens. We already live in a surveillance society. Do we really want to live in a 'papers please' society, too?! Rob Slater, Norfolk
The OSA has inadvertently blocked a whole host of important websites, from news outlets to work platforms to resources for victims of sexual abuse. It has forced people to hand over their personal information to unregulated companies and forced people who refuse to do that to use a VPN – which pushes up the cost of living, as VPNs are not cheap.
As for people with no ID and no money, they've basically been banned from accessing parts of the internet. This is just the start of an endless laundry list of problems with the OSA.
Now, say if this law had been cobbled together in a few weeks with no research, then I would understand why it's such a complete mess. But that's not what's happened. The previous government started developing the OSA in 2017 – so our politicians have had eight years to perfect this legislation. Eight years to research, learn from experts, consult companies and the public, take questions in Parliament, scrutinise every detail and create a law that works. And this is what they came up with. A crock of nonsense.
This all demonstrates a simple truth: We can't carry on like this, with the wrong people always in positions of power. It's bringing our country to its knees. Charlie Parrett, Stoke
I have to take issue with Chris Shepherd (MetroTalk, Fri) stating Labour have reversed all their pre-election pledges. More Trending
In 2010, the Tories inherited an NHS with its highest ever approval ratings of 70 per cent, when they left office in 2024 it had hit its lowest ever rating of 21 per cent with more than 7 7 7 million on waiting lists. The NHS are now delivering record amounts of treatment and waiting lists have fallen every month since Labour took power.
On immigration, the Tories presided over a quadrupling of immigration. In Labour's first year, immigration was half what it was in the Tories' final year. GDP in Labour's first year was 0.9 per cent compared with the Tories' final year of 0.7 per cent.
It takes more than one year to repair the colossal damage caused by Tory incompetence. They changed leader five times while the country went down the tubes. I'll judge Labour after four or five years in office, not 12 months. Robert Johnson, Harlow
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