😫 Not quite ready to tackle all those "Reviews of the Year" in your inboxes? 😃 Here's our "Review of the last fortnight". 💡 Spoiler alert: it's not short. 🎁 Happy Christmas! We'll be back in January. us4.campaign-archive.com?e=6cf6aab125... #onlinesafetyact #onlinesafety

Read our response to the Government's #violenceagainstwomenandgirls strategy here: in short, lots to welcome, not least the ban on nudification apps, but much to do. #vawg #onlinesafetyact www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/the...

Government's #vawg strategy announces a ban on #nudification apps but no intention to upgrade @ofcom.bsky.social #onlinesafetyact guidance to a code of practice. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6943d2...

🆕 Research brief published today detailing mounting evidence on harm caused by #AIChatbots. Thanks to all the organisations who've contributed to recent discussions on this. 💡 More on what the Govt should do about this to follow in the New Year. www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/ai-...

The amount of money Meta made from Chinese scam ads last year is more than double Reddit's entire business. Have fun on Instagram today!

Hansard transcript of yesterday's "Repeal the #onlinesafetyact" Petitions Committee debate. Tl:dr - no MP speaking in the debate argued for the OSA to be repealed and none of those who've called for this previously turned up. 🤔 hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025...

Our polling is clear that across the political spectrum the overall public response is that we need online safety legislation and we need Ofcom to start enforcing it.

New polling commissioned by @cleanuptheinternet.org.uk from @opiniumresearch.bsky.social ahead of today's debate on the #onlinesafetyact: ✅ 70% are supportive of the OSA ✅ 49% think its implementation is too slow ✅Support consistent across political parties www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/new...

Elon Musk's AI robot is spewing misinformation about the Bondi Beach shooting

This week we released ISD’s Digital Policy Lab (DPL) brief, Fostering Healthy Masculinities: Building Resilience Against Online Misogyny. It draws on expert workshops held in September, exploring how online content shapes misogynistic beliefs & identifies ways to strengthen men’s & boys’ resilience.

Explainer from Prof Lorna Woods on the Australian under-16 #socialmedia ban, which comes into force today. www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/aus...

🆕Don't miss our penultimate newsletter of 2025, packed full of all the latest Government, @ofcom.bsky.social and civil society news and research on #onlinesafety in the UK and further afield You can read it below - and do subscribe for the next one! us4.campaign-archive.com?e=12547a4002...

The Australian under-16 #socialmedia ban comes into force next week: here's an explainer from Prof Lorna Woods on what it covers, how it will work and some issues that may arise during implementation. www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/aus...

This. ⬇️

@ofcom.bsky.social announcing today that it has: fined a porn company £1m; extended its investigation into 4Chan; published a review of progress in the first year of #onlinesafetyact implementation; and produced an analysis of the illegal harms risk assessments ⬇️ www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

Proud that @counterhate.com has played a central role in triggering this action by Ofcom. This is a result of our research showing how X and other platforms promote and reward antisemitic extremism and terror in our societies. www.politicshome.com/news/article...

@itvnews.bsky.social coverage of @ofcom.bsky.social #vawg guidance here with comments from Internet Matters and Refuge on why its non-enforceable status may limit its impact. 2/ www.itv.com/news/2025-11...

🚨 @ofcom.bsky.social have published their final guidance on protecting women and girls online. Coverage and commentary, including our own response, to follow here later. #onlinesafetyact #vawg #violenceagainstwomenandgirls www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

It's #onlinesafety newsletter day: if you don't subscribe, you can read it in full below. Just don't forget to sign up to receive the next instalment direct.😉 #onlinesafetyact mailchi.mp/9755825a6fb9...

We found that Jewish people were targeted with a wave of hatred & calls for violence on X after the heinous UK Heaton Park Synagogue attack. Following this research, more than 30 cross-party MPs & peers are urging Ofcom to take action against antisemitism on X. More in @politicshome.bsky.social ⤵️

Great to see the gov pushing Ofcom to implement further protections in the Online Safety Act. Liz Kendall is right - more delays prevent us from protecting women, children and minority groups from harm www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Quite the shot across the bows from the #DSIT Secretary of State to the @ofcom.bsky.social Chief Exec in the second of two letters on the implementation of the #onlinesafetyact, published today. Consultations on the duties referred to are now delayed until summer 2026. 1/2 www.gov.uk/government/p...

🚨The APPG on Children's #onlinesafety has announced a new inquiry into #AI with a view to making recommendations to Government to close gaps in existing legislation, including the #onlinesafetyact. 📆 Deadline for submissions 7 January. www.childrensonlinesafetyappg.org/inquiries-ai...

New amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill announced by the Government, enabling safety testing of AI models to prevent them being used to create CSAM; the press release also notes that such testing will cover extreme pornography and non-consensual intimate imagery. ⬇️ www.gov.uk/government/n...?

As Prof Lorna Woods tells @bbclaurak.bsky.social in her piece on risks of #ai #chatbots, the #onlinesafetyact is "clear but doesn't match the market ... the problem is it doesn't catch all services where users engage with a chatbot one-to-one." 1/2 ⬇️ www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc....

Good to see the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee pushing TikTok on the impact on #onlinesafety of its plans to make 100s of Trust and Safety staff redundant. committees.parliament.uk/committee/13...

🎂 The #onlinesafetyact is two, and so are we. 🎁 Here's the latest edition of our #onlinesafety newsletter, which has been hitting inboxes nearly every second Monday since we started. ✏️ Do sign up, if you haven't already, to receive it direct. ⬇️ mailchi.mp/581367f72801...

🎂 The #onlinesafetyact is two years' old this weekend. 🎁 Here's a look at the highs, the lows, the missed opportunities and the homes for the future. www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/the...

🆕 We've published our cross-cutting analysis of Ofcom's #onlinesafetyact Additional Safety Measures, with more detail on the individual measures to come from us before the consultation closes next Monday (20th). ⬇️ www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/ofc...

🚨 NEW: OpenAI’s new “safer” version of ChatGPT actually allows more harm. TW: Suicide, self-harm, substance abuse & eating disorders We tested ChatGPT-5 and found that the new AI model that uses “safe completions” fails to reduce safety risks to users ⤵️

"Similar to" but importantly not identical. Meta is drafting off the higher trust that people have in movie ratings to suggest that Instagram is as safe for a 13-year-old as seeing Superman. But movies aren't social media and Meta isn't even publishing its actual revised content policies

❓ The Lords' Communications and Digital Committee are asking "how is @ofcom.bsky.social implementing the #onlinesafetyact?" this afternoon: Chief Executive Dame Melanie Dawes & Online Safety Strategy Director Mark Bunting will be responding. Starts at 230pm. committees.parliament.uk/event/25195/...

📢 TikTok slashing Trust & Safety staff in the UK is a threat to online safety. Today, CCDH & other leading organisations are urging MP @chionwurah.bsky.social, Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, to investigate the impact of TikTok's decision. More in @the-independent.com ⤵️

Update from @ofcom.bsky.social on its #onlinesafetyact investigations and related enforcement activity. ⬇️ www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

🆕 Our latest #onlinesafety newsletter is out today. Parliament may have been on recess but it's hardly been quiet elsewhere. Catch up with all the latest news, research and commentary below and don't forget to subscribe to receive the next one direct. ⬇️ mailchi.mp/51eb43a1895c...

We're pleased to sign the open letter reported by @theguardian.com today calling for an investigation into the proposed content moderator job cuts at #TikTok ⬇️ #onlinesafetyact ⬇️ www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

🚨 NEW analysis from our expert legal adviser Prof Lorna Woods OBE on the use by @ofcom.bsky.social of a "technically feasible" proviso in many of its #onlinesafetyact code measures and recommendations on how to reduce its potential impact on user safety. 👇 1/2 www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/req...

Do you know what would be good news for fact checkers? Anyone who fancied going to the @fullfact.org website (the people who wrote the widely used fact check cited by lots of people here) and clicking the donate button. We are a tiny charity and your support helps. fullfact.org/technology/d...

Morning! Society for Hopeful Technologists newsletter #2 is arriving in inboxes now. A little bit on Musk and X, much more about future plans + organising buttondown.com/society-of-h... and great to have a group of fellow organisers coming together 💪

Elon Musk has shared an obviously AI-generated image of the Unite the Kingdom rally in London. The first AI error is that the Arc de Triomphe is in Paris, not London. And once you zoom in, you'll notice that the Union Jacks and the crowd have other errors typical of AI images.

Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission launched an inquiry into AI chatbots and their impact on children. The agency issued orders to seven companies asking them for details on their products, including how they “evaluate the safety of their chatbots when acting as companions.”

🚨 New @ofcom #onlinesafetyact consultation launched today on the draft guidance for super-complaints ✍ Deadline for responses: 3 November 👉 www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

DSIT reshuffle: - Liz Kendall replaces Peter Kyle as SoS - Ian Murray, ex-Scot Sec, replaces Chris Bryant at DSIT & DCMS (Bryant follows Kyle to DBT) - Kanishka Naryan new junior minister - Vallance stays, added role at DESNZ - Feryal Clark, Baroness Jones leave govt www.gov.uk/government/n...

The UK is leading the world in addressing online safety. The Online Safety Act holds social media companies accountable & protects kids from harms. We should be working to strengthen the OSA, not scrap it. Read our new blog to learn more ⤵️

This. ⬇️ #onlinesafetyact

Officials from @ofcom.bsky.social gave evidence yesterday to the Speaker's Conference on the security of candidates, MPs and elections, with the discussion focusing on implementation and enforcement of the #OnlineSafetyAct - you can watch the session back here.⬇️ www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

The US House Judiciary Committee has been taking testimony from Nigel Farage and others this afternoon in a discussion on "Europe's Threat to American Speech and Innovation." We've taken a look at some of the claims made about the #onlinesafetyact ⬇️ www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/fac...

"You can say what you like, I don’t care, because that’s what free speech is," Nigel Farage has just told the House Judiciary Committee, about three hours after his party banned me from covering its conference this weekend.

This letter is important. It is a careful, detailed, scholarly, and accurate explanation of the elements of the DSA and EU law that prevent the DSA from being a "censorship" law in the first place. The list of EU expert signatories is stellar. @hutko.bsky.social @joanbarata.bsky.social

Parliament's back - and so are we. Catch up with what's been happening over August in our new-term newsletter, out today. And, if you haven't already subscribed to receive these direct every fortnight, the registration link is in the next post. mailchi.mp/1d3aa36da50b... #onlinesafetyact