Mastodawn

Competition makes for a safer Internet.

We urge UK Ministers to exempt small community sites that are at little risk of hosting harmful content and not force them to collapse under the weight of disproportionate duties.

Write to your MP to #SaveOurSites ⬇️

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/save-our-sites-write-your-mp

#onlinesafetyact #onlinesafety #ofcom #netplurality #freedomofexpression #fediverse #mastodon #ukpolitics #ukpol

Save our sites - Write to your MP

Small UK websites, user-to-user services and even computer games that are completely safe and well managed, are faced with difficult paperwork, risks assessments, registration and fines thanks to the Online Safety Act. Even personal blogs with comments are forced to undergo these difficult tests and compliance tasks. Getting it wrong or ignoring them could cost an operator their house – as fines can be imposed for failing to do them. As a result, many small websites in the UK are deciding to close down.

Open Rights Group

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Open Rights Group 1d ago

We need to break down the monopoly walled gardens.

Online safety can come from people freely choosing platforms that respect their privacy and align with their values.

Taking active steps to force small sites to shut down or block UK users plays into the hands of monopoly control of the Internet.

#SaveOurSites

#onlinesafetyact #ofcom #onlinesafety #netplurality #freedomofexpression #fediverse #mastodon #ukpolitics #ukpol

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Open Rights Group 1d ago

Net plurality gives us choice and voice on the Internet, so communities of interest can grow with user-driven moderation.

Online Safety duties will put community groups off small web projects and entrench the power of Big Tech who have the resources to deal with so much regulation.

#SaveOurSites

#onlinesafetyact #ofcom #onlinesafety #fediverse #netplurality #freedomofexpression #mastodon #ukpolitics #ukpol

Open Rights Group 1d ago

With over 1600 pages of guidance on Online Safety duties, Ofcom (UK) has dealt a sucker punch to small blogs, forums and fedi instances.

Onerous duties with the threat of fines has led to many sites shutting down already.

Only the largest companies that engineer harms can realistically comply.

#SaveOurSites

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/apr/24/ofcom-rules-protect-keep-children-safe-online

#onlinesafetyact #ofcom #onlinesafety #netplurality #freedomofexpression #fediverse #mastodon #ukpolitics #ukpol

Ofcom announces new rules for tech firms to keep children safe online

Companies will be legally required to block children’s access to harmful content under UK’s Online Safety Act or face large fines

The Guardian

Ian Brown 👨🏻‍💻Mar 21

I may be with #BigTech on this one 🫠#OSA #FreeSpeech #SaveOurSites

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:s55iys3p4tup2yzz7q7ddjj3/post/3lkulma72th27

Bluesky

Bluesky Social

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Open Rights Group Mar 17

There's still time to put pressure on the UK government.

The UK Secretary of State has the power to exempt small, safely moderated websites from the Online Safety duties.

We need urgent change to protect net plurality, rather than further consolidating power in monopoly platforms. We need competition for a safer Internet.

Write to your MP (UK) #SaveOurSites 🌐

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/save-our-sites-write-your-mp

#OnlineSafety #onlinesafetyact #ukpolitics #ofcom #netplurality #fediverse #mastodon #activitypub #ukpol

Save our sites - Write to your MP

Small UK websites, user-to-user services and even computer games that are completely safe and well managed, are faced with difficult paperwork, risks assessments, registration and fines thanks to the Online Safety Act. Even personal blogs with comments are forced to undergo these difficult tests and compliance tasks. Getting it wrong or ignoring them could cost an operator their house – as fines can be imposed for failing to do them. As a result, many small websites in the UK are deciding to close down.

Open Rights Group

Show thread

Open Rights Group Mar 16

Under the UK Online Safety Act, small blogs, forums and fedi instances are faced with disproportionate requirements to:

⚫️ Check if they have UK users

⚫️ Do a risk assessment on whether kids might access the content, or if CSAM or terrorist material might be posted in the comments

⚫️ Put themselves at the risk of fines, and even prison sentences, if they fail to comply with Ofcom’s future directives

#SaveOurSites 🌐

#fediverse #onlinesafetyact #ofcom #netplurality #mastodon #onlinesafety #tech

Open Rights Group Mar 16

The UK Online Safety Act burdens small sites with duties and penalties that they can't shoulder. They'll shut down instead, stripping us of net plurality.

There’s a simple solution:

✅ Exempt small, safely run blogs, forums and fedi instances
✅ The government can do this now

The duties start TOMORROW – Write to your MP ⬇️

#SaveOurSites 🌐

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/save-our-sites-write-your-mp

#onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #fediverse #netplurality #mastodon #ukpolitics #ukpol #tech

Save our sites - Write to your MP

Small UK websites, user-to-user services and even computer games that are completely safe and well managed, are faced with difficult paperwork, risks assessments, registration and fines thanks to the Online Safety Act. Even personal blogs with comments are forced to undergo these difficult tests and compliance tasks. Getting it wrong or ignoring them could cost an operator their house – as fines can be imposed for failing to do them. As a result, many small websites in the UK are deciding to close down.

Open Rights Group

Open Rights Group Mar 15

Saddling small sites with the same duties as huge platforms means many will shut down in a hammer blow to net plurality.

We'll be left with the Sophie’s choice of monopoly services; the incubators of online harms.

URGENT: The UK government must change the Online Safety Act to protect safe, non-commercial blogs, forums and fediverse.

Write to your MP to #SaveOurSites 🌐

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/save-our-sites-write-your-mp

#onlinesafetyact #onlinesafety #fediverse #ukpolitics #ukpol #activitypub #mastodon #netplurality

Save our sites - Write to your MP

Small UK websites, user-to-user services and even computer games that are completely safe and well managed, are faced with difficult paperwork, risks assessments, registration and fines thanks to the Online Safety Act. Even personal blogs with comments are forced to undergo these difficult tests and compliance tasks. Getting it wrong or ignoring them could cost an operator their house – as fines can be imposed for failing to do them. As a result, many small websites in the UK are deciding to close down.

Open Rights Group

alxtrnr Mar 14

https://listed.to/@alxtrnr/60290/save-our-sites-write-to-your-mp

#SaveOurSites

Save our sites - Write to your MP | alxtrnr — Enough is plent...