The Lead Untangles: Online Safety Act and a real change in our digital lives

Changes in the law can often feel abstract and like 'they won't affect me' but this new act is probably having an impact on your browsing.

Photo by Declan Sun on Unsplash

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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has found himself at the heart of the ongoing furore over the Online Safety Act, which was enacted late last week.

Speaking on a Sky News broadcast, technology secretary Peter Kyle accused Farage of being on the side of “extreme pornographers” and “Jimmy Savile” after he pledged to repeal the act if he got into power. Farage, who has criticised the act over free speech concerns, has demanded an apology.

But all this fanfare risks portraying the act as a left versus right issue, when the reality is that people all across the political spectrum have criticised the new law over privacy and censorship, while there have long been calls to ensure young people – particularly teenagers – are not seeing extreme content online.

Within the privacy and censorship movement there is a strong feeling against the act, with more than 450,000 people signing a petition to repeal the legislation and trigger a debate in Parliament, which will now have to take place as it has crossed the 100,000 signatures threshold.

Context

The Online Safety Act was passed in 2023 and came into force last week, on Friday 25th July.

While the act contains many measures, such as criminalising cyberflashing (when people share unsolicited nude images online), intimate image abuse, and threatening communications, there is one change that’s being widely criticised: age verification requirements.

Under the act's child protection provisions, many companies must now introduce safety measures to protect children from harmful content, typically via age-checking procedures. This includes things like content showing or promoting self-harm or suicide, pornography, terrorism, and videos inciting violence.

In order to view anything deemed adult content, users of websites – from pornography sites to social media like Reddit – must verify their age either by providing a live image or an ID check using a bank card or photo ID.

The government’s stated aim for introducing age-verification laws is to protect children, but critics are concerned that the measures are not just largely ineffective, but could lead to repercussions on our fundamental rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and personal privacy.

Since Friday, there have been five million extra online age checks a day according to new data by the Age Verification Providers Association [AVPA]. But there has also been a surge in the use of VPNs – or virtual private networks – which are used to circumvent the requirements. Four of the top five free apps on the Apple download store in the UK are VPN apps, with Proton, the most popular, reporting a 1,800 per cent increase in downloads. On top of that, research shows that younger children often see explicit content not via search results but by instant messaging.

Elsewhere, smaller sites have been forced to shutter due to the expensive costs of age-verification tools, and reports suggest that posts about Gaza, as well as safety advice about drugs, for example, are being blocked. Furthermore, critics worry that the bill will snowball, leading to self-censorship online.

What does the Online Safety Act actually do?

The act puts the onus on websites and platforms to ensure they are protecting their users. Ofcom will be the regulator of online safety and will be in charge of making sure companies have effective processes in place. Those who do not can be fined up to £18 million or 10 per cent of their qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater.

Ofcom will also be able to hold companies and senior managers (where they are at fault) criminally liable if the provider fails to comply with Ofcom’s enforcement notices in relation to specific child safety duties or to for child sexual abuse and exploitation on their service.

What are proponents saying?

Transport Secretary Peter Kyle said: “Protecting children from harmful online content that has no place in their feeds. I'm determined kids can benefit from technology without fear of seeing unsuitable content.”

Chris Sherwood is chief executive of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children [NSPCC] wrote: “It’s deeply concerning to see the rhetoric around the Online Safety Act shift toward loss of free expression and bureaucratic burden.

“We need to be clear about what this legislation does – it protects children and young people from the most dangerous and damaging content and is our best shot at keeping them out of harm's way.”

What are the critics saying?

Speaking to The Lead, Jessica Ní Mhainín of Index on Censorship said: “We are deeply concerned that the age verification requirements in the Online Safety Act are likely to do more harm than good. Though framed as a means to protect children, these measures risk undermining fundamental rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and personal privacy.

“The law fails to reflect the realities of the online world. Younger children may still encounter harmful content through messaging platforms, while older teens can easily circumvent age checks using VPNs and other tools.

“It is especially troubling that these age-based restrictions disproportionately target young people at a time when the UK is considering lowering the voting age. Limiting access to vital, legitimate, and sensitive information – such as content on mental health, sexuality, or LGBTQ+ issues – restricts young people’s ability to make informed decisions and engage meaningfully in democratic life."

What happens next?

In response to the petition, the government maintained that it has no plans to repeal the act, so it’s unlikely we’ll see any changes although it will have to be discussed in Parliament due to the petition.

About The Lead Untangles: In an era where misinformation is actively and deliberately used by elected politicians and where advocates and opposers of beliefs state their point of view as fact, sometimes the most useful tool reporters have is to help readers make sense of the world.

The Lead Untangles is delivered each Friday by The Lead and focuses on a different complex, divisive issue with each edition. Is there something you’d like us to untangle, email ed@thelead.uk

About the author: Ella is a freelance journalist specialising in worker's rights, housing, youth culture, social affairs and lifestyle. You can find her work in Tribune Magazine, Huck Magazine, Novara Media, VICE, Dazed, metro.co.uk and - most importantly - here at The Lead.