Reddit, Grindr and Bluesky have chosen age verification providers based outside the UK with concerning privacy policies. Go figure.

❌ You can't choose provider
❌ Platforms don't need to pick certified providers
❌ Providers don't need to meet specific privacy or security standards

✅ Regulate the age verification industry now.

#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #OSA #privacy #ageverification #ageassurance #ukpolitics #ukpol #freedomofexpression #censorship #netplurality

Plurality online is being wrecked.

The UK Online Safety Act imposes heavy burdens on small sites, including risk assessments for a broad range of content, the threat of fines or the cost of checking the age of every user.

❌ Many small sites are shutting down or blocking UK users entirely.

✅ Change the categorisation of sites, so small sites and instances are exempt.

#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #OSA #privacy #ageverification #ageassurance #ukpolitics #ukpol #netplurality

The UK Online Safety Act is a hot mess 🥴

Drunk on boarding up more of the Internet than even the government's paedo test could justify.

Pushing people into riskier stuff online, enabling scammers and walking off with your ID.

Tell your MP to sort it out! ⬇️

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/tell-your-mp-online-safety-act-isn%E2%80%99t-working

#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #OSA #privacy #ageverification #ageassurance #ukpolitics #ukpol #netplurality #censorship #cybersecurity

Tell your MP: The Online Safety Act isn’t working

What's the problem? The Online Safety Act has been a disaster. Rather than protect children, millions of adults are facing widespread censorship, and teenagers are having their freedom of expression restricted. Here are some of the key problems with the law: Wrongful Censorship: The law places huge liabilities and threats of jail on platforms if they don't censor the right content. It does little to protect freedom of expression. The results are in. Footage of protest censored on X. Subreddits about stopping smoking, sexual health, and the news age-gated and shadow-banned.

Open Rights Group

The Online Safety Act is technologically naive and ignorant to privacy risks, so people are finding ways around age verification. But...

❌ Teens could be pushed towards riskier things like the dark web, dodgy free VPNs or scams.

✅ Invest in a public information campaign to help people navigate online safety and learn about the privacy risks of age verification.

#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #OSA #privacy #ageverification #ageassurance #ukpolitics #ukpol #security #cybersecurity

Age verification goes way beyond porn, impacting everything from Reddit to Spotify to Xbox.

❌ Content is being age gated when it shouldn’t, including subreddits for sexual health like r/STD, for health like r/stopsmoking, or news like r/israelexposed and an X post featuring a speech about grooming gangs by Katie Lam MP.

✅ Limit the scope of the UK Online Safety Act.

#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #OSA #privacy #ageverification #ageassurance #ukpolitics #ukpol #freedomofexpression #censorship

How's it going since the UK Online Safety Act slammed an age gate on the Internet?

Age verification providers with dodgy privacy policies, over-moderation of content, scammers scheming and sites closing down.

Here's a week in the life of an unworkable law ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/the-great-british-firewall-age-verification-has-failed/

#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #OSA #privacy #ageverification #ageassurance #ukpolitics #ukpol #freedomofexpression #censorship #netplurality

The Great British Firewall: Age Verification has Failed

From Friday 25 July 2025 UK Internet users have had to verify their age to use a range of apps and websites – from social media platforms such as X, Reddit and Bluesky to dating apps like Grindr to porn sites such as Pornhub.

Open Rights Group

The UK Online Safety Act has hit the fan 💩

It's clear to see in the overreaching censorship across platforms due to age-gated content.

Plus the privacy risks being stored up with an unregulated age verification industry.

Tell your MP it's gone too far ⬇️

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/tell-your-mp-online-safety-act-isn%E2%80%99t-working

#OnlineSafetyAct #onlinesafety #privacy #freedomofexpression #OSA #ukpol #ukpolitics #censorship #agegate #ageverification #ageassurance

Tell your MP: The Online Safety Act isn’t working

What's the problem? The Online Safety Act has been a disaster. Rather than protect children, millions of adults are facing widespread censorship, and teenagers are having their freedom of expression restricted. Here are some of the key problems with the law: Wrongful Censorship: The law places huge liabilities and threats of jail on platforms if they don't censor the right content. It does little to protect freedom of expression. The results are in. Footage of protest censored on X. Subreddits about stopping smoking, sexual health, and the news age-gated and shadow-banned.

Open Rights Group

ORG warned of the dangers and pitfalls contained in the UK Online Safety Bill.

We call for a rights-based approach. One that limits the scope of the OSA to minimise threats to free expression and regulates the age verification industry.

Here’s how ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/publications/how-to-fix-the-online-safety-act-a-rights-first-approach/

#onlinesafetyact #onlinesafety #ageverification #ageassurance #privacy #dataprotection #ukpolitics #ukpol #agegating #censorship #osa

How to Fix the Online Safety Act: A Rights First Approach

In this report, we analyse the Online Safety Act (OSA or ‘the Act’) 2023, which imposes new duties on online service providers to protect children from harmful content, and Ofcom’s guidance to compliance with these duties.

Open Rights Group

The UK Online Safety Act is a badly designed, overblown piece of legislation.

Age verification was plonked in without a care for how it was regulated or its excessive reach.

From Reddit to Spotify, UK users are faced with a Faustian bargain: surrender privacy for free expression.

It’s a disaster.

#onlinesafetyact #onlinesafety #ageverification #ageassurance #privacy #dataprotection #ukpolitics #ukpol #agegating #censorship #osa

With over 420k people signing a petition to repeal the UK Online Safety Act, it’s clear that MPs need to fix this mess!

Rather than protect children, millions of adults are facing widespread censorship and threats to their privacy.

Write to your MP now (UK) ⬇️

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/tell-your-mp-online-safety-act-isn%E2%80%99t-working

#onlinesafetyact #onlinesafety #privacy #osa #freedomofexpression #ukpolitics #ukpol #censorship #ageverification #ageassurance

Tell your MP: The Online Safety Act isn’t working

What's the problem? The Online Safety Act has been a disaster. Rather than protect children, millions of adults are facing widespread censorship, and teenagers are having their freedom of expression restricted. Here are some of the key problems with the law: Wrongful Censorship: The law places huge liabilities and threats of jail on platforms if they don't censor the right content. It does little to protect freedom of expression. The results are in. Footage of protest censored on X. Subreddits about stopping smoking, sexual health, and the news age-gated and shadow-banned.

Open Rights Group