You Need To Understand the UK Government’s Online Safety Act
As a site operator, who’s had to read all the documentation relating to this law, I can say…almost none of it is to do with porn or protecting children. The vast majority of the Online Safety Act is dedicated to effectively outsourcing the first online line of enforcement of all laws in the UK to website operators; this includes evidence gathering. However, it also requires them to hide from the public Internet the only evidence actual law enforcement will ever be able to respond to such that when police initially respond to a complaint, they won’t be able to see anything to respond to!!!
Think about that for a second. Even if the police do respond, this is a major problem because it means that unqualified people (like me) using software not designed for that purpose are inserted at the very beginning of the chain of custody for evidence; if their logging and audit documentation are lacking, or if the process for removing harmful content (which they are required to do) means it is permanently deleted, then there will be no reliable evidence which the authorities can use to prosecute people for publishing harmful content. Disputing digital evidence will become the primary way that accused folk will be able to skate.
The end result? Fewer people investigated and prosecuted for online harms. Absolute genius.
(What Level of Censorship is a reasonable, proportionate response to the issue of online safety for children.)
