UnHerd – Big Tech could be UK’s last hope against Online Safety Act

Free speech campaigners should welcome this pushback, even if it’s driven by financial interests. The more pressure the government faces, the more likely it is to rethink this flawed legislation. Originally introduced by the previous government to protect children from online porn and self-harm content, the law has already led to vast swathes of other content being locked behind age verification walls, limiting adults’ freedom to access legal material online.

Now, people must share ID with sites or have their faces scanned to access certain content. A database of verified identities will be a honeypot for hackers and puts everyone’s privacy at risk.

The OSA is already going way beyond its intended remit just days after coming into force. In just two weeks, Spotify has demanded users verify their age to watch explicit music videos, X has placed posts about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza behind age gates and Reddit has blocked access to threads about cider or pun team names for fantasy football to anyone unwilling to submit their face or their ID. Clearly, then, it is not just porn and self-harm that is being placed behind the veiled curtain.

It doesn’t take much to work out why. When web platforms are threatened with seven-figure fines, they are always going to be conservative with their age-gating. Better to be careful than to be in prison.

But pushing users off the internet and restricting the free flow of ideas creates a chilling effect that stifles free speech. Some people will move away from platforms entirely if their ID is required, while age-gating serious content undermines the ability of people to get informed about issues they care about. Last month’s ID data leak from the US dating safety app Tea shows the risks of huge user ID databases. Security concerns like these will lead many people to turn off their devices rather than hand over their data to faceless companies.

Fighting back against the Online Safety Act is a vital battle for free speech online. An internet locked behind ID checks and face scans is far from free. Principled campaigners should cautiously seek allies wherever possible to help roll back this law.

With their deep pockets and vast platforms, Big Tech giants are hard to ignore — and they will keep the OSA’s dangers front and centre in politics. Free speech activists must seize this opening to push back on the Act; it may be our last chance to preserve a free internet in the UK.

–  Jake Hurfurt is Head of Research and Investigations at Big Brother Watch.