I never thought I’d agree with Farage on anything. Yet when the Reform UK leader brands the Online Safety Act (OSA) a “borderline dystopian” overreach and vows to repeal it, I find myself closer to his belief than that of the Government that framed the argument as a simple choice between protecting children and siding with predators.
The text of the OSA casts its dragnet over any service that lets people post or share content. Since Friday, any site where children could encounter adult material of pretty much any type – pornography, violence, self-harm, bullying, dangerous stunts, “exposure to harmful substances” – has had to proactively check IDs at the digital door.
The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the online encyclopaedia, has taken the Government to the High Court, warning that the act’s identity verification rules would effectively kill it in the UK. It complains that it “would undermine the privacy and safety of Wikipedia’s volunteer contributors, expose the encyclopedia to manipulation and vandalism, and divert essential resources from protecting people and improving Wikipedia”.
There’s a lot to object to here. Yet on Tuesday morning Kyle claimed that anyone backing Farage’s repeal plan is on the side of “extreme pornographers” and paedophiles – even invoking Jimmy Savile for good measure.
It was a line of argument even a school debating society chair would cringe at, never mind the holder of one of the highest officers in the land: crank the moral panic to 11, smear dissenters as enablers of abuse, and hope no one notices the law’s gaping flaws.
By caricaturing critics, the Tech Secretary dodges the awkward reality that the legislation he has pushed through does little more than push people to avoid being tracked online, and will cause more harm than good in the long run.
square SIMON KELNER Parents, there's no excuse for not protecting your children online
Read More
Ask people whether they support banning their children from accessing Wikipedia to do their history homework, or having to show ID when they themselves log onto a local history group, and the stats would tell a different story.
If we can have a grown-up conversation – and Kyle’s immediate grasping for the paedophiles and predators suggests the Government, at least, can’t – there are merits to an OSA that works.
A genuinely targeted fix might have mandated on-device age estimation – a method of verification which would leave users less exposed than if their passport or driving license were leaked – or strengthened parental controls on the biggest platforms where harms are documented. Instead, the government wrote a law that treats school homework research on Wikipedia and a grooming subreddit as equally concerning.
And apparently if you point that out, you’re a friend of Jimmy Savile or Jeffrey Epstein. I personally preferred it when the Government didn’t gaslight its electorate to try and hide its stupidity. And I preferred it when secretaries of state knew what they were doing, and were able to acknowledge their errors without resorting to name-calling.
Hence then, the article about i never thought i d agree with farage on anything until now was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( I never thought I’d agree with Farage on anything – until now )
Also on site :
- Supermarket timings for Boxing Day and New Year revealed for Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Lidl and more
- ABL Bio Receives Upfront Payment for License, Research and Collaboration Agreement for Grabody Platform and Equity Investment from Lilly
- ‘Stranger Things 5’ Volume 2 Spoiler Interview: Duffer Brothers Explain the Upside Down’s Origins, Will’s [SPOILER], That Breakup and Why Eleven Might Not Get a Happy Ending