The UK鈥檚 new Online Safety Act may result in hundreds of community websites and forums being permanently shut down, as site administrators say they fear the law imposes onerous obligations and exposes them to potential million-pound fines.
鈥淲e fall firmly into scope, and I have no way to dodge it,鈥� says Dee Kitchen, who runs the cycling forum for its 70,000 members. 鈥淭he Act is too broad.鈥�
The Online Safety Act (OSA) is designed to regulate online speech and media, essentially protecting children from 鈥渓egal but harmful鈥� content, such as pornography or bullying. Nadine Dorries, at the time the UK鈥檚 secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, n 2022 that tech firms 鈥渉aven鈥檛 been held to account when harm, abuse and criminal behaviour have run riot on their platforms鈥�.
Advertisement
The law applies to the owner of any 鈥渙nline service鈥� where users can interact, a definition so broad that it captures essentially anything but static websites with no interactive functionality. Failure to adhere comes with potential fines of up to 拢18 million or 10 per cent of annual turnover, whichever is higher.
Site owners like Kitchen say the new law hasn鈥檛 taken small operations like theirs into account. Their forum software is used to power 300 online communities, but Kitchen is planning to delete them all on听16 March, the day before the OSA comes into force.
鈥淚 run these communities philanthropically, giving my time and money to do so,鈥� says Kitchen. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter that they鈥檙e run by an individual and not a company, that it loses money every month. Merely by being linked to the UK and allowing users to speak to users, it鈥檚 within scope. The penalties of non-compliance would be so devastatingly ruinous to me that I don鈥檛 see I have a choice. It鈥檚 devastating.鈥�
Liam Dawe, who founded the website , says he is also being forced to shut a forum that has almost 15,000 users. He attributes that decision directly to the OSA, which he describes as 鈥渁n incredibly wide-reaching law鈥�.
鈥淭he whole thing is just ridiculous, putting a huge burden on individuals and micro-businesses,鈥� says Dawe. 鈥淚t will be a constant admin headache and a time-sink.鈥�
The administrator of Sunderland Association Football Club fan website Ready To Go also that the site would be closing due to the OSA. 鈥淐ontinuing to provide the service will simply not be practical with the resources we have,鈥� they said. 鈥淚t will all just be too onerous.鈥�
Users and administrators of other forums, including one for and the forum of a publishing house called , also expressed concerns that the OSA could force them to close, but said that they would await further detail from Ofcom, the body responsible for regulating online safety in the UK.
at Open Rights Group, a non-profit internet advocacy organisation, says this is the first evidence he has seen of websites shutting because of the OSA, but that he and his colleagues had predicted this would begin to happen as the implementation date of the law drew near.
鈥淚t鈥檚 understandable if you鈥檙e a volunteer and you鈥檙e doing something without much resource that when you suddenly get new requirements and legal obligations, that might be the final straw,鈥� says Baker. It is possible that LFGSS and others are the 鈥渃anary in the coal mine鈥�, he says, and that a wave of closures will begin as more people become aware of the regulations they will have to comply with, and the potential personal risks for failing to do so properly. He is also concerned that foreign websites will simply ban UK users rather than have to take on additional complications.
A spokesperson for Ofcom told New 杏吧原创 that more help will be available next year for those running online communities to help them better understand their obligations.
鈥淕iven the range and diversity of services in scope of the new laws, we are not taking a 鈥榦ne size fits all鈥� approach. There are some things that all services will need to do, and other things that will depend on the risks associated with a particular service, and its size,鈥� says a spokesperson.
