Meta is denying people their legal right to object to their personal data being used in targeted online adverts. Urge your MP to stand up to Meta and support your right to object to your personal data being used for targeted advertising. action.openrightsgroup.org/tell-meta-no...

So apparently part of the issue with #threads is that they moved domain from threads.net to threads.com with the result that fediverse domain handles are no longer obvious and transparent. Kind of screams neglect and don’t care won’t fix.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council ( @hfcouncil.bsky.social ) are making cuts and yet they're allocating another £3.2 million to facial recognition, even recommending the use of drones as an "enforcement aid".

First people were arrested for projecting an image. Now an ad van protesting Trump has been stopped. This heavy handed approach to Policing speech is harming free expression in the UK www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic... #censorship #freedomofexpression #Trump

"Ad van with picture of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein confiscated by cops in Windsor" #trump visit to the UK is delivering a free speech clampdown. #freespeech #onlinesafetyact https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ad-van-picture-donald-trump-35916462

Perhaps unsurprisingly, threads.com seems increasingly broken from an #activitypub perspective; subscriptions to external accounts frequently fail, and it is not picking up posts from certain user accounts. #threads

Elon Musk has attacked the UKs democracy, calling for Parliament to be dissolved, and Meta is denying us even the basic right to opt out of personalised ads. We’re locked into platforms like X (formerly Twitter) or Meta (Facebook, Instagram) because that’s where the people are. But costs are high.

VPNs must not face the chop 🚫 Next week the Lords will debate whether VPNs undermine the Online Safety Act. Banning or blocking VPNs will shatter security and free expression in a self-defeating attempt to make the unworkable workable. Read our briefing ⬇️ www.openrightsgroup.org/publications...

The Online Safety Act is ballooning in scope. Bumping up 'self-harm' content as a priority offence means these sort of posts will be stripped from social media for adults and kids. ORG's James Baker explains how this change to the law will result in therapeutic or support content being censored.

Censorship creeps onwards 🤐 Ignoring issues with the Online Safety Act, the government is using Henry VIII powers to engulf more content. Aimed at blocking 'self-harm' content, algorithms will misidentify support resources and content will vanish behind age gates. www.digit.fyi/uk-gov-to-to...

The Palestine Action ban is hitting the streets and our feeds. Beyond mass arrests, the Online Safety Act requires social media platforms to block 'illegal' content. This is leading to the over-censorship of content relating to Gaza and protest. Read more ⬇️ www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releas...

Government appears to have learnt nothing from the #onlinesafetyact debacle, and is planning more of the same. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/online-safety-laws-to-strengthen-to-protect-people-of-all-ages-from-devastating-self-harm-content Via Owen Boswarva

UK Government announcement of additional Online Safety Act regulations, not yet published www.gov.uk/government/n... Note the direction of travel: OSA requirements that currently oblige platforms to proactively "protect" children from content will be extended to protect adults.

Social media is an "unhealthy online environment" 🤮 The problem lies with the business model that underpins these monopolistic platforms: they promote ragebait to rake in the money. ORG's Jim Killock told BBC News what needs to be done: ✅ Competition. ✅ User empowerment. ✅ Decentralisation.

The Online Safety Act is an unworkable mess 💩 Can it be changed? And if so, is there the political will to do it? Instead of doubling down on more censorship, Ofcom and the government must take steps to protect freedom of expression. ORG's @sarachitseko.bsky.social and James Baker discuss ⬇️

Content takedowns under the Online Safety Act could go further ⚠️ Damaging free expression has knock-on effects. It limits what we get to know about in the public interest and how we can hold power to account. ORG's @sarachitseko.bsky.social and James Baker discuss the impact on live-streaming ⬇️

The UK's Online Safety Act's push to protect kids online through content blocking and age checks sounds good—until you look deeper. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Intrusive facial recognition is being rolled out by the police without parliamentary scrutiny or public debate. We need to regulate the use of this invasive and harmful technology before we sleepwalk into a surveillance state rooted in racial bias. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

🚨WARNING Facial recognition tech is being used at Notting Hill Carnival this weekend. If you are attending, know your rights - www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/advice_infor...

The Met Police are deploying biased facial recognition at Notting Hill Carnival this weekend. We joined civil society groups in calling for the plans to be scrapped. It “unfairly targets the community that carnival exists to celebrate.” #SafetyNotSurveillance www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

The Online Safety Act is trashing free speech 👁️‍🗨️ Automated filters designed to blot out 'illegal' content will result in over-moderation. This has serious consequences, particularly when combined with the proscription of Palestine Action. Hear from ORG's @sarachitseko.bsky.social and James Baker ⬇️

Teens are locked out of parts of the Internet by the age gate that the Online Safety Act has imposed 🚧 Don't believe the hype: it goes way beyond the headlines of porn. From health advice to memes, content is being over-moderated. ORG's @sarachitseko.bsky.social and James Baker explain it all ⬇️

VPNs are vital for online safety, but they're now in the firing line. People have turned to them to protect their privacy, rather than splurge their data to unregulated age verification providers following the Online Safety Act. But they have an important role to guard against predators online ⬇️

"While the UK may have dropped its demands for Apple to backdoor all of its users across the globe, UK users may still be banned from benefiting from [Advanced Data Protection] encryption." And if it does, there'll be serious questions of trust. 🗣️ ORG's Jim Killock.

The cybersecurity wrecking ball is turning to VPNs ‼️ It's dangerous to attack a tool that can help to keep adults and children safe online. Age-gating this tech would increase cybercrime and put under 18s at a greater risk of predators online. #OnlineSafetyAct www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The UK has pulled its order to put a backdoor into Apple's encrypted services. BUT "powers to attack encryption are still on the law books, and pose a serious risk to user security and protection against criminal abuse of our data." 🗣️ Jim Killock, ORG Exec Director. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The police are currently able to largely set their own rules on facial recognition Any tech that can ID and track any one of us (and can make costly mistakes) must be tightly regulated to protect us as we go about our daily lives Safeguards > more deployments www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

"No matter your age, the Online Safety Act will restrict the content available to you online.” “Adults are being forced to hand over information to unregulated age verification providers" to get the uncensored version of social media. 🗣️ ORG's @sarachitseko.bsky.social theface.com/society/onli...

The challenge to the Online Safety Act by @wikimediafoundation.org has been dismissed. BUT there's some good news for freedom of expression. The High Court recognised its public interest and that Ofcom must be flexible to protect this valuable resource. wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/08...

Buried in The Observer yesterday was this: UK police knocking on doors demanding details of social media accounts of people, to pass to a foreign government, simply because they happen to live near where a US politician wanted to have a holiday observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

20 years since I co-founded the Open Rights Group, going on to become their first Executive Director and turning it from an idea into an organisation with a solid future. I’m incredibly proud of what we did with ORG and what it continues to do.

The Online Safety Act ransoms your privacy for free speech 🛑 By age gating vaguely defined ‘harmful’ content, UK users face censorship. It coerces people into coughing up their ID to unregulated age verification providers or scammers. Write to your MP ⬇️ action.openrightsgroup.org/tell-your-mp...

It's been 20 years since ORG was founded as a grassroots organisation 🌱 Since then, our members have supported us in the fight for digital rights. So to celebrate, 20 people who become a monthly donor this summer will get a year's NordVPN subscription! Join today ⬇️

UK users are cut adrift from current events by the Online Safety Act. Platforms must moderate content that’s ‘harmful’. A term that bursts the banks of porn to submerge news, advice and debate… it’s online censorship. Write to your MP ⬇️ action.openrightsgroup.org/tell-your-mp...

Parts of the Internet are going dark since the Online Safety Act heaped weighty duties on platforms. Sites are geoblocking the UK, overmoderating content, age-gating access or shutting down completely. We need your help to track how content is being censored ⬇️

“The Online Safety Act risks silencing a generation." Older teenagers trying to engage with current events "may be cut off from vital sources of information because platforms will err on the side of removal to avoid hefty penalties.” 🗣️ ORG's James Baker. www.express.co.uk/news/politic...

The over-moderation of content relating to Palestine is a result of the government banning Palestine Action and duties placed on platforms by the Online Safety Act. Our open letter calls on Ofcom to proactively defend the right to free expression. Hear more from ORG's @sarachitseko.bsky.social ⬇️

Palestine Action ban + Online Safety Act = widespread censorship of content about Palestine 🚫 Lawful posts could be swept up by overly broad definitions of terrorism and wrongly removed by platforms. Our open letter from human rights groups and experts ⬇️ www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releas...

Do you or have you ever expressed support for #palestineaction online? To paraphrase McCarthy. Is the content still up? We want to monitor takedowns: send us your URLs! #onlinesafetyact #osa

Government must “limit the scope of the [Online Safety] Act so that people aren’t forced to risk their privacy whenever they go online.” As age verification blocks porn AND ‘harmful’ content, millions are at the mercy of unregulated providers. 🗣️ ORG’s James Baker. bylinetimes.com/2025/07/31/t...

The letter from ORG et al raises pertinent questions, but there is an deeper issue: over-takedown of content when adjudging illegality isn't just a matter of over-caution, it is baked into the #OnlineSafetyAct: e.g. 1️⃣ The low 'reasonable grounds to infer' standard for adjudging illegality 1/2

🚨 BREAKING 🚨 Posts about Palestine could be censored. We warn about the impact of the ban on Palestine Action combined with duties in the Online Safety Act to remove ‘terrorist’ content. Read about our open letter signed by human rights groups and experts ⬇️ www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

“The government should halt the expansion of facial recognition before we sleepwalk into a surveillance state.” 🗣️ ORG’s @sarachitseko.bsky.social on the Met Police doubling the use of this intrusive tech without Parliamentary debate. #SafetyNotSurveillance

Oh look, MPs are claiming for VPNs on their expenses. #onlinesafetyact https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-mps-charge-vpns-expenses-minister-caution-tech-jonathan-reynolds-data/

Blink and you’ll have never seen it in the first place 🫥 Age verification rules in the Online Safety Act are snapping parts of the Internet out of existence. But it’s not what you think (porn)! News on conflicts: GONE. Support for sexual health and smoking: GONE. Watch how censorship works ⬇️

How's it going since the Online Safety Act slammed an age gate on the Internet? Age verification providers with dodgy privacy policies, over-moderation of content, scammers scheming and sites closing down. Here's a week in the life of an unworkable law ⬇️ www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/the-gre...

Oh dear. Don't blame us, blame them, for the #onelinesafetyact whinges Conservative ex Minister. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/31/my-online-safety-act-isnt-the-problem-labour-is/

“We’re seeing teens being prevented from accessing content about sexual health, politics and news. If adults want to see this content, they are forced to prove how old they are with unregulated age verification companies.” 🗣️ ORG's James Baker #OnlineSafetyAct www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture...

Liberal Reform have condemned the Online Safety Act for its threat to privacy and free exchange of information for millions of people. The pressure is on @libdems.org.uk to oppose this "poorly drafted legislation". Will they stand up for civil liberties? www.libdemvoice.org/we-have-a-du...

I'm your (not so) private dancer. The Online Safety Act gets even sillier. Spotify users must now compromise their privacy to verify their age, which could end up in them having their accounts deactivated 🤯 Bad law makes for bad, incoherent outcomes. www.independent.co.uk/tech/spotify...