Critics argue the OSA, designed to protect children from harmful content, has become a broad censorship tool, suppressing lawful political speech and forcing the closure of small online forums due to heavy compliance burdens.
In response to the OSA, VPN usage in the U.K. surged by 700%, leading some MPs to propose regulating the privacy tools themselves as a way to enforce the Act's restrictions.
The parliamentary debate revealed significant concern that the law is eroding privacy and free speech, with critics drawing parallels to historical censorship and warning it sets a dangerous global precedent for digital control under the guise of safety.
Despite acknowledging problems, the government is moving to expand the OSA's scope, targeting encrypted messaging and AI, while opposition from the public and international figures like U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance highlights a growing divide over digital freedoms.
The British Parliament recently debated the repeal of its controversial Online Safety Act (OSA), responding to a public petition that garnered over 160,000 signatures. Yet rather than addressing concerns over government overreach, Members of Parliament (MPs) doubled down on calls for stricter internet controls like expanding age verification, cracking down on virtual private network (VPN) usage and demanding artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots be policed like digital trespassers.
The debate was held in a sparsely attended Westminster Hall on Monday, Dec. 15. It revealed a widening chasm between public demands for digital freedom and political insistence on tighter regulation – raising alarms about censorship, surveillance, and the erosion of privacy in one of the world’s oldest democracies.
The OSA, enacted to shield children from harmful content such as pornography and violent extremism, has instead morphed into a sprawling censorship apparatus, forcing lawful political discussions and independent forums offline while empowering tech giants to act as arbiters of truth. Civil liberties groups warn that the law has effectively "childproofed" the internet for adults, requiring invasive age checks just to access basic content.
VPN usage surged by 700% in the UK following the OSA's implementation, as citizens scrambled to bypass restrictions. This prompted MPs like Jim McMahon (Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton) and Julia Lopez (Hornchurch and Upminster) to suggest regulating the privacy tools themselves.
Critics argue the OSA's vague language invites overzealous enforcement. Small forums, including fan communities and local message boards, have shuttered under the weight of compliance burdens, with one administrator of a message board for the soccer club Sunderland AFC nearly closing shop after struggling to navigate the British Office of Communications' (Ofcom) labyrinthine guidelines....<<<Read More>>>...