⚠️ The Online Safety Bill has been passed in the UK Parliament. ⚠️
The threat it poses to our right to privacy and freedom of expression will soon become law.
It'll make us less secure, including the children and young people that the law is supposed to protect.
Find out more here ⤵️
#OnlineSafetyBill #privacy #freedomofexpression #e2ee #ukpolitics
The #OnlineSafetyBill (UK) is an overblown legislative mess.
Powers to scan private messages remain, despite it being impossible to achieve without blowing a hole in our security.
"While the UK government has admitted it’s not possible to safely scan all of our private messages, it has just granted Ofcom the powers to force tech companies to do so in the future. These are powers more suited to an authoritarian regime not a democracy." – @JamesBaker for ORG.
The Online Safety Bill also poses a huge threat to freedom of expression with tech companies expected to decide what is and isn’t legal.
Automated moderation will censor content before it’s even been published, re-introducing prior restraint for the written word for the first time since the 1600s.
Young people could be denied access to large swathes of the web, including resources for information and support.
#OnlineSafetyBill #freedomofexpression #freespeech #censorship #ukpolitics
Perhaps the biggest failing with the Online Safety Bill (UK) is the lack of detail in how these extraordinary powers will be implemented.
It throws the ball over to Ofcom to sort this mess.
We call on the regulator to work with cyber experts, tech companies and civil society to reduce the harms to our fundamental rights.
#OnlineSafetyBill #privacy #e2ee #freedomofexpression #freespeech #censorship #ukpolitics
The fight to defend our digital rights in the UK has only just begun.
Powers in the Online Safety Bill, and how they are exercised, will have huge consequences for our rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
Join ORG today as we ready for the fight ahead.
#OnlineSafetyBill #privacy #e2ee #freedomofexpression #freespeech #censorship #ukpolitics
@openrightsgroup
The next government* needs to undo/revoke every law the tories have passed since 2010, then hold public inquiries, then trials.
*assuming there is one**
**in our lifetimes
@mysturji @openrightsgroup yeah unlikely even if Labour gets in.
Especially with Kier Starmer in charge.
The Greens in Scotland have a better understanding of the ramifications because of their close relationship with Org Scotland, I couldn't say if the English Greens do. Although folks voting for the Greens is less likely sadly.
@openrightsgroup The legislative direction of the UK is clear: the Government has legislated that designing for confidentiality is “irresponsible”. If you entrust the confidentiality of your communication to a third party*, the Government will regulate that third party so as to remove your confidentiality.
NB - “third party” here *in no way* only means “communications service provider”. It also means app developer (e.g. Signal), OS provider (e.g. Google), device manufacturer (e.g. Apple).
@openrightsgroup *One way or another, in a technically-mediated world, you *always* have to entrust your confidentiality to a third party - in fact, many third parties.
The Government knows this - that’s precisely why it got all queasy about letting certain non-UK companies into the nation’s communications infrastructure. But the same Govt has legislated to erode the trustworthiness of all third parties serving you in the UK. Great, isn’t it.
Trevor Marshall
Open Rights Group
Craig Grannell
pera
James Baker
Robin Wilton
The1goit 
Mysturji
Esther Payne 