Free expression online
Save our Sites: Deadline 17 March
Incredible as it may seem, thanks to the Online Safety Act, dozens of harmless, safe, small websites are closing down by 17 March, rather than face threats of fines that could lose their operators their homes. Other websites, based outside of the UK, are likely to stop UK users from accessing their services, to avoid liability, through “geo-blocking”.
A Threat to Net Plurality
There are over 450 million WordPress blogs, for example, many of which allow user to user comments: these face liability and sanctions, under the OSA. Many will ignore the OSA, others will shut the UK out.
Federated social media, mostly based in the USA and EU, is also faced with OSA obligations, which are frequently likely to be onerous and pointless, given they are well run and designed to be safe spaces.
This is the inevitable result of dragging literally any website, including (probably by mistake) personal blogs with comments, into the Online Safety regime. These simple websites are obliged to:
- Check if they have UK users
- Perform a risk assessment to assess whether children might access the content, or of CSAM or terrorist material might be posted in the comments
- Place themselves at the risk of fines, and even personal liability for prison sentences, should they fail to comply with Ofcom’s future directives.
These kinds of measures are the sorts of headaches that organisations can take on – although most NGOs and businesses probably do not know these may duties apply to them, and may therefore unwittingly be placing themselves at risk.
A flurry of sites are promising to close down – all very safe websites and forums, generally small scale and non-commercial.
Blogs and blog comments: exempted or not?
In Schedule 1 of the OSA there are exemptions at 4 (1) for interactions where “users are able to communicate by means of the service only” by “posting comments or reviews relating to provider content”. It also states at 4 (3) that “content that is user-generated content in relation to a service is not to be regarded as provider content in relation to that service”.
While unclear, Ofcom have tried to nudge providers towards assuming that blogs are exempt (see step 5). Ofcom say sites are exempt if: “Users can only interact with content generated by your business/the provider of the online service. Such interactions include: comments”; but that the exemption “would not apply if users can interact with content generated by other users”.
The problem here is that a comment is “content generated by other users”. In a typical blog comments section, users are reacting to comments from other users, not just the initial blog post. So while appearing to exempt blogs with comments, the Act probably does not. Of course, until someone has to argue this in court, we would not know for certain. The right thing to do is to tighten up the definitions and exemptions.
Urgent Action Needed
Is the intention of the Online Safety Act to push users from safe services, into Facebook and other commercial services that are causing the problem? It hardly seems likely, but that is the result.
There is in fact an easy solution to this mess. The Secretary of State has powers to change the categorisation of sites under the OSA, and could act quickly to exempt small and harmless sites that do not experience problems. This change could be enacted within a few weeks.
If the Secretary of State promises to act before 17 March, then these sites may well be saved, and more besides as people understand the new duties. Action is needed – quickly.
If you are concerned, or impacted, then please email your MP, asking that small, harmless sites are exempted, before they are closed down.
WRITE TO YOUR MP
Exempt websites that are small and at very little risk of hosting harmful content from the Online Safety Act provisions.
Take Action