Latest news with #Wikimedia Foundation
The Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald
Wikipedia operator loses court challenge to regulations under UK Online Safety Act
The operator of Wikipedia on Monday lost a legal challenge to parts of the UK's Online Safety Act, which sets tough new requirements for online platforms — but has been criticised for potentially curtailing free speech. The Wikimedia Foundation took legal action at London's High Court over regulations made under the law, which it said could impose the most stringent duties on Wikipedia. The foundation said if it was subject to so-called Category 1 duties — which would require Wikipedia's users and contributors' identities to be verified — it would need to drastically reduce the number of users who can access the site. Judge Jeremy Johnson dismissed its case on Monday, but said the Wikimedia Foundation could bring a further challenge if regulator Ofcom "[impermissibly] concludes that Wikipedia is a Category 1 service'. The Online Safety Act was criticised earlier this month by social media site X, which said significant changes were needed to the law. Free-speech campaigners and content creators have complained its rules had been implemented too broadly, resulting in the censorship of legal content. The British government says the law is designed to protect children and remove illegal content, and technology secretary Peter Kyle has said those who wanted to overturn it were 'on the side of predators'. Reuters
ABC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Wikipedia could reduce UK users as it loses legal challenge against online safety legislation
Wikipedia's operator has lost a legal challenge to parts of Britain's Online Safety Act, which it says will drastically reduce the number of users who can access the site. The Wikimedia Foundation took legal action at London's High Court on Monday local time over regulations made under the law, which it said could impose the most stringent duties on Wikipedia. The new act sets tough new requirements for online platforms but has been criticised for potentially curtailing free speech. The foundation said if it was subject to so-called Category 1 duties – which would require Wikipedia's users and contributors' identities to be verified – it would need to drastically reduce the number of users who can access the site. Judge Jeremy Johnson dismissed its case but said the Wikimedia Foundation could bring a further challenge if regulator Ofcom "(impermissibly) concludes that Wikipedia is a Category 1 service". The Online Safety Act, which is being rolled out this year, sets tough new requirements on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X, as well as sites hosting pornography, to protect children and remove illegal content. But it has attracted criticism from politicians, free-speech campaigners and content creators, who have complained that the rules had been implemented too broadly, resulting in the censorship of legal content. Users have complained about age checks that require personal data to be uploaded to access sites that show pornography, and more than 468,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the act to be repealed. One of the act's critics earlier this month was social media site X, which said significant changes were needed to the law. The British government says the law is designed to protect children and remove illegal content. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has said those who wanted to overturn it were "on the side of predators". Reuters
