The UK’s Online Safety Act is a law sold as child protection that actually silences dissent, hides Gaza suffering, and exports censorship to the world. It empowers Ofcom to police almost every corner of the internet, forcing platforms to remove “harmful” material and link real identities to online activity, creating a treasure trove for hackers, blackmailers, and states. The law’s chilling effect is operational, with Wikipedia facing threats of fines or access blockage due to non-compliance. The legislation trend is not about protecting children but rather about corporate capture and state control, wrapped in the moral language of child safety. As Britain exports its model, citizens must recognize that when governments claim they’re protecting children by controlling information, they’re usually protecting something else entirely: their own power to determine what we can see, say, and know.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/11/6/britain-calls-it-safety-it-is-censorship