UK MPs debate evolution of Online Safety Act, reject repeal petition

Just over 550,000 people in the UK signed a petition calling for the repeal of the Online Safety Act, prompting a debate on Monday in a mostly-empty Westminster Hall. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Big Brother Watch and Index on Censorship have echoed the call. The explanation on the EFF site also says “the current Act tilts too far,” and that it can reach the right balance “with sensible adjustments.”

What sensible adjustments might look like was the main focus of the Westminster debate as well.

“I think the debate that we’re likely to have today is likely to be more nuanced than a simple repeal or maintain the Online Safety Act, to talk about the implementation and the evolution of the Act over time,” Labour MP Lewis Atkinson said during his opening remarks.

Given that nearly 3 million people signed a petition calling for the UK government to abandon its plans for a mandatory national digital ID, and that seems unlikely, the less ambitious framing may stand a greater chance of yielding change.

“As the first substantive attempt at regulating safety online, the OSA has brought into regulation many services that have not previously been regulated,” Atkinson said. “And it is those services that the petition creator, Mr. Baynham, particularly explained to me that his priority motivation lay in creating this petition.” The Labour MP is particularly concerned about the impact on online hobby and community forums, many of which are smaller business or organizations.

Atkinson acknowledged Ofcom’s work in preparing small businesses for the OSA, but says site operators have told him the required complaints system creates a burden that could crush some small operations.

Therefore, he relays a request that “Ofcom take further steps to simplify the record keeping and risk assessment burden for small sites.” Some kind of exemption based on a combination of size and risk could satisfy the community, Atkinson suggested.

MPs also noted that some of the smaller sites that have been reported as closing down due to the OSA are either directly associated with identified online harms, like encouraging suicide, or had not in fact gone offline, but had simply closed a particular page or section.

Atkinson referred to a recent public survey finding 69 percent support for age verification, facial age estimation or other forms of age checks for online platforms.

And some MPs argued for areas where the OSA does not go far enough, including AI chatbots. Much of the discussion centered around the malign influence of social media, its addictive qualities, and the widespread proliferation of pornography on the most popular social media platforms.

A research briefing from the House of Common Library acknowledges criticism of the OSA on grounds that it threatens freedom of expression and end-to-end encryption.

It also reviews Parliamentary questions and answers on the topic, including Ofcom’s announcement earlier this month that it is researching VPN use in general, and in particular by children.

A survey of UK parents and children by Childnet suggested the spike in VPN downloads following the OSA’s enactment “is not attributable to children.” The question of whether VPN use should be regulated was also taken up during the Westminster discussion.

Calling for an evolution

A different call has been made by the Open Rights Group and co-signed by the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA), for the age assurance industry to be regulated. An open letter from the groups to Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Liz Kendall, MP, notes platforms are not required to chose certified providers or meet privacy or security rules, and that there is no public register of approved age assurance providers.

“We’ve implemented self-regulation – a code of conduct, international standards, audit and certification – but agree more should be done officially too,” says AVPA Executive Director Iain Corby.

“It is entirely natural that the first attempt at regulation and legislation will not get everything right and that it will require evolution,” Atkinson said at the conclusion of the Westminster Petition Committee debate.

The entire field of age assurance is evolving, with the first international standard from ISO/IEC reaching publication this week.

Article Topics

legislation  |  Ofcom  |  Online Safety Act  |  regulation  |  UK age verification  |  UK digital ID