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 8h 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 8h 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 8h 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

IndieAuthors.Social News 1d ago

Penguin Random House Leads Amicus Brief in LGBTQ+ Books Case

The US high court hears oral arguments as publishing industry parties file an amicus brief, on school exposure to LGBTQ+ themes.
https://publishingperspectives.com/2025/04/penguin-random-house-leads-amicus-brief-in-lgbtq-books-case/

#AuthorsGuild #BookBanning #Censorship #FreedomofExpression #FreedomtoRead
@indieauthors

Penguin Random House Leads Amicus Brief in LTGBQ+ Books Case

The US high court hears oral arguments as publishing industry parties file an amicus brief, on school exposure to LGBTQ+ themes.

Publishing Perspectives

IndieAuthors.Social News 1d ago

Penguin Random House Leads Amicus Brief in LTGBQ+ Books Case

#AuthorsGuild #BookBanning #Censorship #FreedomofExpression #FreedomtoRead
@indieauthors

Penguin Random House Leads Amicus Brief in LTGBQ+ Books Case

The US high court hears oral arguments as publishing industry parties file an amicus brief, on school exposure to LGBTQ+ themes.

Publishing Perspectives

Stefan 4d ago

For me, a woman is someone who was born with the primary female sexual characteristics, everything else is classified as trans.

I am not against trans people or their human rights or their right to free development, I am only interested in the definition, for me!

Putting up with a different opinion is part of freedom of expression.

#gender #female #woman #trans #opinion #freedomOfexpression

Aaron 5d ago

#Cornell also targeted Momodou Taal with accusations like these, in attempts to punish him for his opinions eventually the feds used these mischracterizations to target Taal too, who left the country out of concerns he'd be abducted by the American Gestapo

#FreedomOfExpression

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/mohsen-mahdawi-arrest-columbia-university-trump-legal-justification

The State Department Relied on Columbia University’s Mischaracterization of Protests to Arrest Mohsen Mahdawi

Columbia University refused to retract its statement calling pro-Palestine protests “intimidation.” Now, the Trump administration is using it against Mohsen Mahdawi.

Drop Site News

IndieAuthors.Social News Apr 15

Vivat’s Julia Orlova: Ukraine’s Print Runs Are Rising

In an update on her market observations, Vivat Publishing CEO Julia Orlova talks of the evolution of the Ukrainian market in wartime.
https://publishingperspectives.com/2025/04/vivats-julia-orlova-ukraines-print-runs-are-rising/

#FreedomofExpression #FreedomtoPublish #InternationalPublishing #JuliaOrlova #Rights
@indieauthors

Vivat's Julia Orlova: Ukraine's Print Runs Are Rising

In an update on her market observations, Vivat Publishing CEO Julia Orlova talks of the evolution of the Ukrainian market in wartime.

Publishing Perspectives

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Strypey Apr 15

"... seizing on the opportunity of COVID, under the guise of preventing misinformation, there's been a spate of laws from Singapore to India to Indonesia ... to supposedly curb misinformation, but have really been used to throttle freedom of speech and expression... Singapore for example ... many of the remaining independent media have been [censored using these laws]"

#AnupriyaDatta, 2025

https://www.techpolicy.press/part-2-technology-democracy-and-powerjournalisms-role-in-a-time-of-crisis/

#FreedomOfExpression #FreeSpeech #IndependentMedia