There are two tests Ofcom is requiring websites to take. First, can children access your website? Well, they know what web browsers and phones are, so yes. Second, what mitigations are you implementing to prevent children seeing anything not "safe for kids"?
From what I understand, websites, apps and Internet services will be required to implement:
ID and age verification for any content that is not "safe for kids". Not just pornography, anything not "safe for kids". Any websites accessible in the UK will have to comply. I suspect many websites will just tell the UK to go away.
Video facial recognition verification which will be ongoing and live to ensure that a device is not handed over to someone else after the initial verification.
IP/geo-location to determine if someone is using a VPN or isn't currently in the UK. And if so, block them. Gambling websites do this and streaming websites detect VPN's to enforce geographical deals for copyrighted work.
Algorithms and moderation that has to err on the side of caution. This will likely just kill off any discussion forum and comment sections while social media platforms will just blanket geoblock posts or delete them to be safe rather than sorry.
The Ofcom consultation for all of this came out today. Do feel free to comment:
And we haven't reached the prospect of VPN's being banned yet. Or the potential for FOSS to be banned either on the same grounds of circumventing safety measures. I haven't seen anything that demands operating systems to remove wrongthink apps but it would not surprise me if Ofcom or the Government demands this.
But what they ultimately advocate for and the campaigners want simply isn't possible with the Internet as is. They'd have to shut it down and implement a national Intranet. And frankly, I think they would be determined to do that if they have the chance.
I don't think people realise what's coming. The prices alone I saw when I glanced the consultation document on the proposals Ofcom wants would just take anyone but the big firms offline and would likely result in websites sited outside of the UK to geoblock in order to not pay. And that's before all the bureaucratic red tape and regulation that would make it impractical and unviable. And that's before the concept of whoever is left will just ban by default in fear of fines that would kill them.
It really will be the death of the Internet in the UK by a thousand cuts.
There are two tests Ofcom is requiring websites to take. First, can children access your website? Well, they know what web browsers and phones are, so yes. Second, what mitigations are you implementing to prevent children seeing anything not "safe for kids"?
From what I understand, websites, apps and Internet services will be required to implement:
ID and age verification for any content that is not "safe for kids". Not just pornography, anything not "safe for kids". Any websites accessible in the UK will have to comply. I suspect many websites will just tell the UK to go away.
Video facial recognition verification which will be ongoing and live to ensure that a device is not handed over to someone else after the initial verification.
IP/geo-location to determine if someone is using a VPN or isn't currently in the UK. And if so, block them. Gambling websites do this and streaming websites detect VPN's to enforce geographical deals for copyrighted work.
Algorithms and moderation that has to err on the side of caution. This will likely just kill off any discussion forum and comment sections while social media platforms will just blanket geoblock posts or delete them to be safe rather than sorry.
The Ofcom consultation for all of this came out today. Do feel free to comment:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/protecting-children-from-harms-online
And we haven't reached the prospect of VPN's being banned yet. Or the potential for FOSS to be banned either on the same grounds of circumventing safety measures. I haven't seen anything that demands operating systems to remove wrongthink apps but it would not surprise me if Ofcom or the Government demands this.
But what they ultimately advocate for and the campaigners want simply isn't possible with the Internet as is. They'd have to shut it down and implement a national Intranet. And frankly, I think they would be determined to do that if they have the chance.
I don't think people realise what's coming. The prices alone I saw when I glanced the consultation document on the proposals Ofcom wants would just take anyone but the big firms offline and would likely result in websites sited outside of the UK to geoblock in order to not pay. And that's before all the bureaucratic red tape and regulation that would make it impractical and unviable. And that's before the concept of whoever is left will just ban by default in fear of fines that would kill them.
It really will be the death of the Internet in the UK by a thousand cuts.