'No Plans to Repeal the Online Safety Act' – UK Government Responds to Age Verification Backlash
UNITED KINGDOM, AUG 01 – The U.K.'s Online Safety Act mandates age verification on over 6,000 websites to protect minors, prompting privacy concerns and a petition with 450,000 signatures seeking repeal.
- The United Kingdom began enforcing mandatory online age verification under the 2023 Online Safety Act last week to block minors from explicit content.
- The Act was developed by previous Conservative governments, passed in 2022, and embraced by the Starmer government despite widespread Labour opposition.
- The new law extends to many platforms including social media and streaming services, triggering daily millions of age checks and increased VPN demand for privacy.
- Support for the law dropped from 80% before rollout to 69% recently, while over 460,000 Britons have signed a petition calling for repeal amid privacy and censorship concerns.
- The UK government insists it has no plans to repeal the Act and is working with Ofcom for full, proportionate implementation despite mounting public backlash.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Age verification: Since last week, online platforms have been required to check the age of British users before showing porn. This verification is still faltering.
The online safety bill turns us all into predators. The lights of freedom are going out - Renee Hoenderkamp
It sounds so reasonable that anyone disagreeing can only be a predator, paedophile or up to no good.The “Online Safety Bill” championed by the Tories, received Royal Assent on October 26, 2023, but its full implementation is happening in phases. While some provisions went into effect earlier, such as the legal duty to protect users from illegal content, March 17, 2025, and the duty to protect children online, July 25, 2025, the full scope of the…
In the UK, a draconian online law has been in force for a few days with the Online Safety Act, which is not only a tougher procedure ... The post When the pizza service asks for ID: the absurd excesses of the Online Safety Acts appeared first on Apollo News.
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