Why’s there been so much backlash to the online safety act?
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New laws in the UK means you’ll have to upload a photo or your ID to prove you're old enough to view certain content online. This is all part of the government’s online safety act to protect young people, but does it cross a line many people are simply not willing to cross?
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Read time: 4 mins
In brief…
- In the days since the UK government introduced its online safety act, sales of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to hide user’s locations have rocketed, and many people have called the move an infringement on privacy.
- A leading expert in cybersecurity tells the UK that many people do not trust big companies with their personal data, following a string of major hacks in recent months.
- The News Agents say that what is being asked of people online is taking too much information from people, even if the ultimate goals of the act are to protect young people.
What’s the story?
The UK's online safety act intends to make this country "the safest place in the world to be online" with one simple question: Are you 18?
New age restrictions are intended to protect young people from harmful content online, such as porn, extreme violence and self-harm – but its introduction hasn't been met with widespread praise.
In an attempt to stop children from viewing harmful content online new measures have been introduced that require people to use facial recognition software, or upload their personal ID to access certain websites and apps.
The move has led to claims of invasion of privacy, and criticism that people don’t trust social media companies (and other online businesses) with their personal details.
It’s also faced backlash for casting the net too wide on what is deemed harmful or explicit content.
“The act has acted like one of those trawling nets that you put along the bottom of the ocean," Jon Sopel says on The News Agents.
"It just doesn't capture the fish that you're after, it captures absolutely bloody everything."
Almost 400,000 people have signed a petition calling for the government to repeal the online safety act.
“We think that Parliament should repeal the act and work towards producing proportionate legislation rather than risking clamping down on civil society talking about trains, football, video games or even hamsters because it can't deal with individual bad faith actors,” the petition argues.
What do the experts say?
Chelsea Jarvie, a cyber security expert who has just completed a four-year PhD in online age verification, tells The News Agents there are concerns in the UK when it comes to trusting big companies with their personal data.
"People don't feel comfortable giving their face or their ID away on the internet in order to get access to legal content," Jarvie says.
And considering some of the headlines in recent months, there's probably a good reason for that lack of trust.
“It's actually a terrible time for this legislation to be coming in, because right now we're coming off the back of months of retailers being hacked and it being all over the media," Jarvie adds.
"We've got a lack of trust at the moment among the public and among consumers around how safe our data is when we give it to online services."
Now, people are being asked to give up some of their most private information in order to verify they are an adult – and Jarvie thinks they are right to question it.
“It's a very tricky balance," she adds, saying that this is even more complicated with out-of-date methods for assessing who people really are.
"The technology needs to go far beyond what it does right now," Jarvie says.
"A static age check, where you look at somebody and estimate their age, look at their ID and decide if you are allowed in, that isn't really enough for the dynamic internet that we have."
And while she believes the online safety act will achieve its core target of stopping children "stumbling" across porn on the internet, the rise in people buying VPNs (which allow you to access the internet without restrictions of any specific country, essentially acting as a work-around to the new rules) suggests those intent on finding it won't find it much of a hurdle.
Swiss-based VPN service Proton said it experienced a 1,800% rise in purchases from internet users in the UK after it came into force on Friday 25 July, and that these sorts of numbers aren't usually seen unless a country is in the midst of "major civil unrest".
"The democracy that is the UK is starting to give off the same effect as somewhere like Iran, the Middle East, or somewhere that's actually experiencing a massive uprising of protest and people who are finding themselves blocked from using the internet," Emily Maitlis says.
What’s The News Agents’ take?
Emily believes many people feel like what's being asked of them online, in order to shield young people from uncovering content that could be dangerous to them is a "big investment" and overrides personal privacy, just to access certain sites.
Jon Sopel says for many, this represents the state crossing a line in terms of privacy, and intruding into our lives.
The UK is the first country to impose such strict age verification in order to protect young people from harmful content, and The News Agents say the world is watching – making this an important moment for the country, and the Labour government.
"The government has done this clearly, because there has been so much demand from parents, from people who think that there is a real menace going on in the online world," Emily adds.
"It's the unregulated Wild West, and any kid can access anything, and there is nothing to sort of stop them.
"This all comes from a place of genuine concern, partly fuelled by some of the dreadful stories we've heard of young people losing their lives to suicide and parents saying, this is all the fault of the tech company."
Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.
