Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Yeah the description is properly bonkers. But the idea that it’s getting censored in the UK in the name of ‘online safety’ is also bonkers, as well as a bit chilling.

People should be free to be nuts, unless and until they’re proven to be causing real-world harm.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

True, history is littered with famous people that were probably thought to be nuts, or slightly unhinged, when they first announced their 'new' ideas or inventions. ;)

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Still available for me

https://x.com/OracleFilmsUK/status/1930356088404357464


This is the full description from the films website, former ITV and Sky news employee.

"The Agenda: Their Vision | Your Future is a feature-length independent documentary produced by Mark Sharman; former UK broadcasting executive at ITV and Sky (formerly BSkyB).

In fiction and fact, there have always been people and organisations with ambitions to control the world. And now the oligarchs who pull the strings of finance and power finally have the tools to achieve their global objectives; omnipresent surveillance, artificial intelligence, digital currency and ultimately digital identities. The potential for social control of our lives and minds is alarmingly real.

The plan has been decades in the making and has seen infiltration of Governments, local councils, big business, civil society, the media and, crucially, education. A ceaseless push for a new reality, echoing Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, or George Orwell’s 1984.

The Agenda: Their Vision, Your Future examines the digital prison which awaits us if we do not push back right now. How your food, energy, money, travel and even your access to the internet could be limited and controlled; how financial power is strangling democracy and how global institutions like the World Health Organisation are commandeered to champion ideological and fiscal objectives.

The centrepiece is man-made climate change and with it, the race to Net Zero. Both are encapsulated in the United Nations and its Agenda 2030. A force for good? Or “a blank cheque for totalitarian global control”?

The Agenda presents expert views from the UK, the USA and Europe."

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

No me, then again, maybe you need to be logged in. I am not.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

My dad just got it via the link using Brave Browser on his iPad.

If I try to access it via Edge using my X Account for the music YouTube channel I have, then I cannot see it because it says it's blocked due to UK Law, the replies to the post more than like show why it's labelled as "Harmful".

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

and David Icke is a former BBC employee. :shrug:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Not shocked at that, the BBC have some very wrong people working for them.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Welp Discord has started now.

Had to reinstall Windows this morning, went to click on a chat room inside a server and now I must send them a photo of my face, photo of my driving license front and back, no information as to who see's it, where it is sent to, whether it is stored anywhere or not.

Good Old UK Government, cannot and won't protect people on the streets but they will do everything to make sure you don't say something online or see something online that they don't agree with.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Opera has free VPN built in. You just need to turn it on in settings

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Vivaldi does too.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I imagine that this is a better solution as there's no guarantee that the free VPN's won't misuse your data.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Just be careful with this as iirc the last time I looked at it, they used a VPN that connected you to Russian servers only and had no servers in other locations.

If that has changed now, then people can give it a try and see how they get on with them.

Problem I have with VPN's is that typically you don't get full speed from your broadband are they are limited to may a 10 Gig of traffic per month.

I am yet to find a VPN provider that I would trust enough to use.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

"VPNs top App Store charts as Online Safety Act age checks kick in" - BBC News

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn72ydj70g5o

Instead of protecting kids, it's peeing off every adult. VPNs will just be the norm and then they'll be less protection. Those that give details out will probably end up subjected to some hack/leak of some kind. All this for what? And at what cost, apart from looking like a dictatorship country and a laughing stock.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Good advice.

By the sounds on it, you only need the VPN for the landing page. Once you’re in, you can turn the VPN off and it should work as normal.

---------- Post added at 15:14 ---------- Previous post was at 15:13 ----------

Don’t worry. I’m sure there will be legislation around VPN use before too long.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I have used SurfShark for a couple of years now, and never been limited to what I download per month.

I am currently on 250Mb/s with VM, and this is the speeds I get on my iPad wirelessly using VM, then three different VPN locations - I’m happy with those speeds, as I would’t use a VPN for online gaming.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...5&d=1753711987

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...6&d=1753711987

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...7&d=1753711987

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...8&d=1753711987

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Vote reform , said they will scrap the bill.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Never vote reform.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Problem with Reform is that if elected , their representatives run away/resign/ are found to have a dodgy past. When they actually have to do something is where it falls down.
https://hopenothate.org.uk/2025/06/1...-in-six-weeks/

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

...

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

As of this evening, 5 of the top 10 are still VPNs.

https://appfigures.com/top-apps/imes...om/top-overall

Number 5 is Yoti, a digital ID app. But Proton VPN has knocked ChatGPT off the top spot.

Opera browser (with VPN) is in at number 16.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

A couple of things here.

Firstly, if you are downloading a VPN to bypass age checks, you are clearly not "accidentally" coming across anything, you are making a choice to view it.

Secondly, you dont, of course, actually need a VPN - for web sites a simple proxy server will do the trick, I've run one of my own for many many years.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Why do you let the kids have the ability to install stuff (without your consent)? It is not difficult to lock down the phone before you give it to your kids, no purchasing, no installing, lock down some settings. You can get more or less draconian as they demonstrate their trustworthiness.
At home you set the internet to block porn or other topics, routers will often now have parental/access controls available.
Yes these do require parents to be parents, to take a little time to learn something but it's their kids they are wanting to protect.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I've just been confronted by a message on YouTube.

"Take a few minutes to verify your age
Please provide more info so we can make sure you're old enough to view this video"

"If you are in Australia, the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, or the United Kingdom, you may be asked to verify your age to watch age-restricted videos.

If you’re in the EU, EEA, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom
In line with the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), you may be asked to verify your date of birth to watch age-restricted videos. AVMSD covers all audiovisual media, including video sharing platforms.

Follow the prompts to submit an image of a valid ID or credit card. Learn more about how age verification works.

If you’re in Australia
You may be asked to verify your date of birth to watch age-restricted videos. This added step is informed by the Australian Online Safety (Restricted Access Systems) Declaration. The declaration requires platforms to take reasonable steps to confirm users are adults in order to access content that is potentially inappropriate for viewers under 18.

Follow the prompts to submit an image of a valid driver’s license, Proof of Age card, or passport. Learn more about how age verification works."

---------- Post added at 11:30 ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 ----------

"The Act....... obliges large social media platforms not to remove, and to preserve access to, journalistic or "democratically important" content such as user comments on political parties and issues."

"The Daily Telegraph reported in July 2025 that Wikipedia may restrict access for UK users if the government insists on full compliance. Observers note that such an outcome would be unprecedented in a liberal democracy and could set a damaging global precedent for restricting access to open knowledge."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Safety_Act_2023

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Yes, various other countries are bringing in similar legislation. Something to think about when deciding which country to use for a VPN.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Time to invest money in the Post Office, letters will be making a come back once the interweb is closed down :D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

It's far from perfect, and easily got around, but if it makes it less likely the youngest of kids view this stuff, then its got to be an improvement.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Ultimately it shouldnt really matter what server you connect to for a VPN. If there is an issue just change server to another country.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Nonsense. The parents are responsible for ensuring young children do not have access to these sites.

The older kids will get around this anyway, and subject themselves to even worse material. Many of us on here warned of this long ago.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

While in France, l was connected to a server in vella, could the search engine be avoiding using France.?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Even if its only 1% effective, what's your objection? PCs can be set up not to download install software. Older kids yes, they'll get round it. OAPs might struggle though ...
Some protection, even if its flawed, is better than none.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

This legislation won't affect children with responsible parents as inappropriate websites won't be accessible anyway, it's those that aren't or can't be responsible that it
aims to protect.

---------- Post added at 19:39 ---------- Previous post was at 19:33 ----------

Indeed and Ofcom have always recognised this.

Guido Fawkes has said that he thinks that the Government will/could ban VPN's to stop those circumventing the new law, but they have issued a statement saying that they aren't going to do this.

Farage has said that Reform would repeal at least this part of the Act, so the technology secretary asked if this meant that he supported those that target children.

In response he has said that he wants an apology for it being said that he supports online predators, when it wasn't said that he did.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Guess I am being really stupid, just went on this , can't see any:rolleyes:

---------- Post added at 19:43 ---------- Previous post was at 19:40 ----------

As the norm for this government of fools, a knee jerk reaction. He should follow Trump and sue:erm:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Yes, seems the latest populist cause. Give us our daily porn fix.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

"Farage has said that Reform would repeal at least this part of the Act, so the technology secretary asked if this meant that he supported those that predate on children.”

Ah, so anyone who opposes this Act for whatever reason is automatically a supporter of child abuse, yes? This from a ‘technology secretary’ - I assume we are talking about Peter Fyle (sorry, Kyle) - who does have a degree in geography, international development, and environmental studies, and a doctorate in community development. Nothing about his career would indicate that he has any knowledge of technology beyond a TV remote control!

And what does this Act have anything to do with CSE anyway? It’s supposed to make it harder for under-18s to see content ‘which could be harmful to children’.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

The Online Safety Act was brought in by the last Conservative Government.

---------- Post added at 00:34 ---------- Previous post was at 00:30 ----------

That isn't what was said, it was a question. Instead of answering it Farage has responded as if he had been accused of supporting child predators.

CSE?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Yes it was but Labour have had over a year to cancel it if they didn't agree with it. Plus it would have passed a vote in Parliament when it was brought in which Labour MPs at the time would have had a vote on.


It's pretty clear they agree with it

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

The objection is that this places restrictions on us all. It’s pathetic over-reach by a woke government obsessed with trying to dictate everything we do.

---------- Post added at 16:58 ---------- Previous post was at 16:51 ----------

But it won’t protect them as they will get around it with a VPN. This is the point you are not addressing.

Additionally, the Act threatens free speech. How long before we can only read the government version of what’s what?

It’s a truly slippery slope and this legislation needs to be reversed.

---------- Post added at 17:03 ---------- Previous post was at 16:58 ----------

That doesn’t make it right! The last Sunak government was as bad as the current government….well, almost.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

The Draft OSA was published in May 2021, and the Bill was introduced into Parliament in March 2022 (by Nadine Dorries), when Johnson was PM...

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

:clap:
---------- Post added at 17:46 ---------- Previous post was at 17:45 ----------

Well said

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Me thinks thou doth protest too much OB. Its restrictions on yourself you're worried about and sod the kiddies? (If you need a VPN recommendation let me know :D ).

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

There’s no evidence harms to children have increased over the years, I believe suicide rates are down.

This is just a censors charter.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I've not seen one bit of evidence to say viewing something online is THE cause for anyone to commit suicide.

But it seems the actual cause, the real cause which isn't the internet is always overlooked but then blamed on the internet. This is what I have issues with.

As for porn.. After seeing that C4 Bonnie Blue docu last night, I've given up all hope the younger generation. I am all for banning porn sites if it's done right. But what's happening isn't being done right.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Perhaps a better idea would have been for isps to follow mobile networks for example example on Vodafone by default your not able to view adult content without logging into your accountant enabling the functionality. (This is seperate to secure net)

Also can we call it porneaux ? There’s just something a bit more eloquent about that

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Ok, so wouldn't that apply to the connection and not necessarily the person using it? With a mobile the person enabling that is pretty much always going to be the person using the handset. With a broadband connection the whole family would be using it. So adults would enable it meaning the kids would be able to access it too once it's been enabled on the connection?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Good point well made hadn’t thought about that …..

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

EE have radio ads at the moment that say you can limit access times for your kids, and also block some "types of sites".

But guess what comes out top on a google search?

"How to turn off restrictions in EE?

To change the level of restriction for ALL your devices:
Open the EE app.
Go to the WiFi Controls dashboard on your app.
Scroll to Parental Controls.
You'll see a slider reading Off, Light, Moderate and Strict. Move the button to the setting you want."

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Several porn sites now being investigated to see if they meet the required level of robust age checks.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

"But mum - I was just checking to see if they had the required level of robust age checks!"

:D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

And how do you know this ?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Comedy in its purest form.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

It's not the porn sites which is the worrying thing, arguably they should be making sure only appropriate aged adults see their content anyway.


It's more the fact this covers more than porn sites even in its current form, any site where users interact with other users is in scope (including forums, and that's why sites like x, reddit, discord, bluesky have all gone into age verification) and that ultimately they could just block content to UK users (not just children) if the government deems that it needs expanding.


I've seen reports recently of some of the protesting and stuff which has been happening but where watching footage has been blocked to uk connections, which is a slippery slope. People shouldn't need a VPN to see content which the government doesn't like.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

We're now past the point where it's forgivable to have so many tech-illiterate politicians. I've said before, it's damaging that we have so many MPs who come from a humanities background, not only because they don't understand science, but also because they don't think anything can be binary. It keeps coming up with encryption, where they don't understand whether you have it or not. They believe you can negotiate with the principle of encryption to have it secure, unless the police want in, then it can stop working.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

but that's how it works in communist dictatorships

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

It will be the most thorough and detailed investigation since investigations began.

Time to buy shares in Aveeno

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Which takes about 10 seconds, load the site, do you get an age check. Done.

Of course, ofcom will turn it into weeks of work :rolleyes:

---------- Post added at 13:15 ---------- Previous post was at 13:06 ----------

Here is the problem.
If this was purely just for porn sites, I doubt so many people would care, but its been expanded way beyond this, and is just incredibly stupid now.
Many sites will not go into all the complication of age checks, and just do what some porn sites have already done, i.e. just block the UK completely.

Those that do age checks will lose many UK visitors as no matter how the goverment protests they are safe, people dont trust age check systems.
I am one of them, will not hand any personal details over to any of them, I'll just use a VPN where necessary (and no, I dont mean porn sites).

Its one of the most dumb and poorly thought out laws ever, it wont stop what they think it will, but will kill the UKs (direct) access to many parts of the net.

China, North Korea & Russia would be proud of such a system.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Not quite, it will be easy to check those without age verification that should have it. I'm told that it's those with it, but it isn't robust enough, that take longer to check. Each site on it's own won't take too long to check, but there is a lot for their staff time go through.

They are being proactive as well as dealing with reports from members of the public.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

*dealing with reports from members of the public*

Please Miss, I google searched images for Banana, you wouldn't believe what came up on my screen :D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

It was probably referring to your previous search history preferences… ;)

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Sorry to say I heard this as well radio 4 news today

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

No Bananas in search history.

plenty of:
Lower back arthritis
Knackered left knee exercises
Sultry Susan
Chord progressions in D minor
how to spell 'circumference'
Jeff Strand books in reading order
big boobies
Why does my yorkshire pudding go stodgy?
strange gurgling when the bath empties
Solar panels required for 3 bed detached
are sex dolls worth it?

;)

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Boobs

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Bet you can't guess what one I searched for...

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

:nworthy:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

OK but in response to "Several porn sites now being investigated to see if they meet the required level of robust age checks.”

Exactly how? Does OFCOM have teams of 100s or 1000s of staff checking or is it the job given to the apprentice as long as they have first washed the polished the bosses car?

Either way they can make the same claim!

And anyway, they find that filthyporn4U.com (other porn based websites are available) based in Azerbaijan with no UK presence is sticking two fingers up at age verification, then what? Block them? Trivially easy to get around. Ads? These sites are funded by ads, make it illegal for UK based banks to transfer funds from UK accounts to anyone who advertises on them? Good idea, well unless they run an ad for say ‘Amazon’? Could be awkward!

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Exposed: Labour’s plot to silence migrant hotel critics



A secretive Whitehall “spy” unit has been used by the Government to target social media posts criticising migrant hotels and “two-tier policing”.

The Telegraph can reveal that officials working for Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, have flagged videos with “concerning narratives” to social media giants including TikTok, warning that they were “exacerbating tensions” on the streets.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...hotel-critics/

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

What has that got to do with the online safety bill?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

The slippery slope to full censorship is getting steeper and this crazy Online safety bill is the main reason. As more and more people are being visited and arrested by the police because someone from the offended group makes a complaint more people will move to VPN's. We are going to end up like North Korea and China soon.

At the moment i am investigating buying shares in a couple of VPN providers if available as it's a win win situation.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

The amusing part of that article is that the information came from Jim Jordan, the House Speaker in the USA, who was complaining about other Countries supposed censorship laws - this, from a man whose country insists you have allow them access to your social media if you want to visit the USA, and who removed any references to Medal and Gallantry winners if they were Black.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz03gjnxe25o

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Defiantly the slippery slope to full censorship, when you're not allowed to have an opinion, Kim jong wrongun would love this.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Everybody is entitled to have an opinion Papa, it's just that we are now likely to be 'looked at' if we share it with others.

This seems especially so if it infers the present authorities are in some ways not fit for purpose, are prone to telling porkies, change their minds at the drop of a £5 note, promote minority groups at the detriment of the majority, and have the financial acumen of a 14yr old given their first American Express card. :D

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

oh the Labour party

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Gosh, and I thought I was being circumspect :rofl:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Excurses
Chord progressions - circle of fifths.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Everyone is entitled to an opinion - others are entitled to question it…

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Everyone should have the right to express an opinion, and others should be free to question it. But as censorship creeps in, often under the banner of safety, we risk quietly shifting the boundary of what can be said or challenged at all. The real danger isn’t people having opinions, but a future where only state or officially approved ones remain and the right to question becomes a privilege selectively granted, not a freedom we all share. I believe this is the fear many people have with the introduction of this bill.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I would agree with you.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Good old labour financial expertise :D

I live in a town where the labour council has put every man,woman and child in debt. They have spent £1.8 billion on crazy get rich schemes that have all failed. They are now in special measures and the councillors that created the mess are all retiring with a golden handshake and pension before they get sacked.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

What is the point of the online safety bill? When you have a C4 docu about a porn star bedding over a 1000 men in 12 hours. If that's not bad enough, the next day the very documentary was discussed on ITV's Lorraine early morning (during school holidays). Discussing what she did, the amount of money that can be made from porn etc etc. Just doesn't make sense.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Channel 4 should definitely have age verification :Yes:

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Unverified rumour that where some sites detect a VPN is in use, they are asking for age verification to be on the safe side.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Unlikely. Why would any do that ? VPNs are global, not a UK thing.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I agree I find it very improbable that is happening due to the nature of the connection. Let’s take a user in Hungry who is accessing a porn site with an ip in Hungry, meanwhile a user from in the UK is using a vpn in Hungry with a Hungarian IP how would they know. There are those who believe that the online safety bill will allow the British government to tell other countries what to do. The are wrong in so many ways

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

So websites can detect that a VPN is in use? I thought that the whole point of using them was to circumvent the age verification systems by completely fooling the Internet into believing that the user was in the country that they were pretending to be in?

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

All a VPN does is deflect a connection so that it looks like it's going from somewhere else. It just shows it as connecting through the VPN instead of your usual ISP.


A website or other service will still be able to detect a VPN if they know which IP ranges are used by a VPN service.


They'd just add the VPN service's IP addresses or hostnames to whatever logic is deciding if age verification is required.


You could put a VPN on and try it and test by going to something like whatismyip with the VPN on and off.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Yes, and No.
A VPN simply changes your (apparent) IP to one in another country.
If you look that IP up in the various databases to see who it belongs to, you can (sometimes) tell its a VPN company.
You cannot 100% say its a VPN, only that it belongs to a company known to run them.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Really have used it for many years the worst / best that happened is some innocent sites won't open . Curry's have lost a lot of my business because of it :D Before some nosey person asks I use two countries as I cannot get on to paid for sites set up when in those countries. France and USA.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

"All a VPN does is deflect a connection so that it looks like it's going from somewhere else.”

Err, no, no it doesn’t. A VPN sets up an encrypted tunnel between two endpoints. One end is your machine and the other is, well, wherever the other end of the tunnel happens to be. I will agree that if using a VPN then as far as the rest of the internet is concerned, you are where the other end of the tunnel is - but it isn’t all a VPN does.

"A website or other service will still be able to detect a VPN if they know which IP ranges are used by a VPN service.”

Yes true, if they are willing to expend the resources required to do this? Netflix generally does because of licensing issues. It’s all a 'whack-a-mole’ setup, unless you are sufficiently motivated, why bother?

"They'd just add the VPN service's IP addresses or hostnames to whatever logic is deciding if age verification is required.”

Why, why would they? And also they detect that someone is connecting from a known VPN supplier, they can’t tell where the person is connecting from. So what, they cut off everyone?

As per ’Sirius’s example above; imagine I run a site, say ‘filthyPornR-US.com’ based in Hungary, I have no presence, no office in the UK, why on earth would I invest time, effort and money in checking to see if any of my ‘clientele’ are connecting from the UK and go through all the efforts to age check?

Of course I won’t, and what can the UK do about it? Sweet FA really! Maybe get a Court order to instruct all UK ISPs to block access, and we all know just how effective these are (PirateBay, anyone?)

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Actually, according to the OSA at least they would have to comply if they are not based in the UK and have a significant number of UK users (this number isn't defined).


There's a checker you can use to see if your site or service is in scope or not.


As for whatever powers ofcom would have to enforce it on a site which wasn't based in the UK, well that remains to be seen, I'm sure at some point they will test it...

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

It seems that some websites are taking this latest implementation of the Online Safety Act seriously by either implementing age verification or geoblocking the UK, whilst others are ignoring it completely.

They too must not believe the Ofcom threats of fines, imprisonment, having their site blocked or having their business interrupted by Ofcom working with their suppliers etc or are simply not aware of these new requirements.

Ofcom have said that their preferred method of compliance is to work with website owners before using their more drastic powers, but will they work? It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Of course they're taking it seriously Richard.
They're probably thinking "We should just move our operations base to the Philippines and screw the UK, everyone can still access with a VPN "

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

A friend of mine has just installed a vpn for the first time. His reason is he is being asked to give photo id, credit card and bank details for age verification on sites that are NOT I repeat NOT porn sites. As far as he is concerned they can sod off and if it means using a vpn then so be it. The government has given VPN company’s a very lucrative market here in the UK.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

I have Norton on my phones and tablets as well as my PC. The VPN turns on for unsecured networks and off on networks "it trusts".

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Just seen a post on a forum I frequent and due to site rules I cannot repost the post here however it looks like the spammers are trying a new tactic where they say someone has installed a vpn server on your pc. Of course they are after installing a remote setup and then empty your bank.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Part of that is the media coverage in a sense making out this is mainly about porn sites.


it is not, it is also about sites which allow user to user content even this one.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

From what i've been reading online it seems that there is confusion between what's required of user to user sites and age verification, the two are becoming conflated.

They said that the Act was intended to be broad, but it appears that this is leading to different interpretations of it too.

One site has now disabled their DM facility. Their reasoning is that public posts can be monitored for inappropriate content and dealt with but, as their software doesn't allow staff to read DM's, inappropriate or unlawful material could be sent from one member to another. This could lead to a situation where the owner(s) and staff could be held responsible for something that they had no knowledge of.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc
 

Well staff shouldn’t be able to read DMs should they, they are supposed to be ‘personal messages (or direct messages) between users. And no in this case the site owners are not responsible. This is the so-called ‘chilling effect’, it’s not illegal but we aren’t sure so we’ll shut it down just in case.

Think of it like this, if hypothetically, I were to send ‘inappropriate material’ to a 15 year old, say, in the post; then would Royal Mail be held responsible? Should they open and check every single letter and parcel just in case?

Although I do get the intentions of this law, it’s bad law, it will not, absolutely will not achieve what it claims do to in any meaningful sense, but will risk users personal information.

Mod edit (Chris): Please do not type any of your reply within the post you’re quoting. It is needlessly confusing and makes it more difficult for users to further reply to you.

Also, do not put your posts in bold, this is reserved for moderator comments like this one.

Re: Online Safety Bill Etc