New UK tech secretary takes over major online safety initiatives

In the midst of implementing a controversial new law and navigating a major diplomatic assault from the U.S., the UK government has opted to shuffle leadership at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), moving former technology secretary Peter Kyle to the business and trade ministry, and replacing him with Liz Kendall, who has been redeployed from her role as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Kendall inherits a file that has significant public support, but also causes concern among many about data privacy, censorship and surveillance. According to a new survey from Sumsub, which polled 2,000 UK consumers, 64 percent agree that age verification checks protect children. That rises to 78 percent among parents with kids under 18, and down to 57 percent among parents of adults.

However, among those who say the OSA is failing, 50 percent cite doubt that the government or Ofcom can effectively enforce it. In terms of specific methods, 26 percent still don’t trust facial age estimation tech to be accurate. And as far as general effectiveness goes, over a third reported being able to access adult content just fine without undergoing age verification.

But most concerning of all from a political standpoint may be the finding that nearly half of people (48 percent) worry about the OSA leading to censorship – the same accusation powering U.S. diplomatic pushback.

Kyle walks into trade role – and US lion’s den

As business and trade minister, Kyle will inherit the fraught job of handling negotiations with the U.S., which has loudly accused the OSA of infringing on the First Amendment rights of Americans and American companies, and attempting to usher in a “global censorship regime.”  According to reporting from MLex, Kyle has already been in Washington, and will be home to welcome President Donald Trump when he arrives for a UK visit on September 17.

One has to imagine that the OSA will be on the list of things to discuss, given that the Trump administration has accused the UK and EU of trying to establish a “global censorship regime” with their online safety and age verification laws.

UK leadership may want to inquire about a legal complaint filed by a New York lawyer, which, according to the Telegraph, calls on Ofcom to appear in U.S. courts “to answer accusations that it failed to properly notify two internet companies of their responsibilities and that it has taken on a political role.”

The complaint, which aims to bar the regulator from enforcing the OSA on American companies, alleges that “Ofcom targeted plaintiffs not as part of neutral enforcement activity, but for overtly political reasons aimed at undermining the First Amendment in the United States, intimidating Americans in the free exercise of their constitutional rights, and crippling the American Internet sector.”

This follows a lawsuit from the owners of 4chan, an anonymous online forum often associated with anime, meme culture and bigotry, alleging that European countries “which have not managed to build technology sectors of their own have, for the past half-decade or more, sought to control the American Internet, and hobble American competitiveness.”

In a post on social media, Yoti CEO Robin Tombs notes the rarity of the situation. “Over the next few months (or years), we are going to find out if a U.S. business located in the U.S., offering its content services to an online audience wherever they be, can ignore online regulations pertaining solely to a UK located online audience, where the evidence is clear to the U.S. business, those users are located in the UK.”

“In the offline world, a U.S. lawyer would be hard pushed to bring a U.S. Court case against a foreign regulator who was requiring a U.S. business to comply with a UK law aimed at UK or foreign businesses located in the UK and interacting with, or selling services to, UK customers located in the UK.”

Meanwhile, Kendall is stepping into her new role with zest, ushering in new regulations on self-harm that risk pushing at the seams of certain key definitions. Yet she is already facing questions from industry about AI, the balance between regulation and innovation, and the expansion of the OSA.

Categorization rules could create disruption after Wikipedia ruling

The Sumsub survey suggests Kendall has public support on her side – for now. The tide could easily turn if incoming categorization rules end up amplifying the impact of the OSA far beyond porn and pro-suicide content. A UK high court recently ruled against Wikipedia, which had challenged the OSA’s classification of it as Category 1.

The category covers services that have an average number of monthly active users in the UK that exceeds 34 million and use a content recommender system; or have an average number of monthly active UK users over 7 million, use a content recommender system, and “provide a functionality for users to forward or share regulated user-generated content on the service with other users of that service.”

Wikipedia says that, despite its size, Category 1 obligations would “undermine the privacy and safety of Wikipedia’s volunteer contributors, expose the encyclopedia to manipulation and vandalism, and divert essential resources from protecting people and improving Wikipedia, one of the world’s most trusted and widely used digital public goods.”

In ruling that Wikipedia must follow the rules as laid out in the categorization system, the UK has opened the door to an implementation that looks less like a targeted attempt to keep kids away from certain content, and more like the mass censorship project the U.S. accuses it of being.

MLex notes that “the ruling also placed the onus on the regulator and the government to ensure the categorization process is applied proportionately and fairly.” But it is already unfair if Wikipedia is subject to its most stringent measures. In the physical world analogue, which is a popular way to frame age assurance among advocates, it is the equivalent of asking for ID to enter the library.

Ofcom is expected to publish its register of regulated services in the coming weeks. It will be a further test of how Liz Kendall intends to handle the online safety file. The new minister started her career at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and has held key roles within the Labour party, including shadow junior health minister from 2011 to 2015. Her voting record in Parliament shows her supporting three new clauses in the Online Safety Bill in 2022, one of which (16) pertained to “communication offence for encouraging or assisting self-harm.”

DSIT cleans house, leaving only one minister unshuffled

In the breakneck world of digital ID and online safety regulation, the only guarantee is change.

In tandem with the moves for Kyle and Kendall, DSIT removed digital economy and online safety minister Baroness Maggie Jones from her post, and likewise fired Feryal Clark, minister for digital and government and artificial intelligence. Per an article in Public Technology, “the only minister to both begin and end last week in post at DSIT is Lord Patrick Vallance, the minister for science, research and innovation.”

Where Kendall lands once the dust settles is anyone’s guess. Her first soundbite, a comment on the self harm laws, was not especially subtle: “Vile content that promotes self-harm continues to be pushed on social media and can mean potentially heart-wrenching consequences for families across the country.” She may storm into the digital fray wielding an axe, possibly even intending to follow Australia in restricting social media accounts to those 16 and older. But in the geopolitical arena, she has the weight of the U.S. on her back.

Article Topics

Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT)  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  Online Safety Act  |  Sumsub  |  UK  |  UK age verification  |  UK digital ID