FINAL CALL ⏰️ ORG's competition ends TODAY. Don't miss out on your chance to win a signed copy of Enshittification by @doctorow.pluralistic.net! Enter the draw by 23.59 TONIGHT ⬇️

The UK needs to break the cycle of dependency on Big Tech ⛓️‍💥 Proprietary systems, secret code and punishing exit fees mean we're out of pocket and out of control. The legacy is one of failure over strategic investment. That's why we need Digital Sovereignty now. ORG's @jim.killock.org.uk explains.

NEXT WEEK 🛎️ Join ORG and @caatuk.bsky.social for a special meet-up in London. We'll be delving into the role of Big Tech players like Palantir in war and genocide. Come along to find out what we can do about it. 🗓️ Monday 1 June 🕡️ 6:30–9pm BST 📍 Newspeak House, E2 7DG Register now ⬇️

Before the online safety consultation even ended, the government indicated that new restrictions are on the way. Pushing for a social media ban ignores its inherent fault – it doesn't work. ORG's James Baker explains how people will find workarounds and what's a better way to address online harms.

COMPETITION ENDING SOON ORG is giving away a copy of Enshittification signed by Cory Doctorow! Grab your chance to win and get your summer read sorted ☀️ Enter by Sunday 31 May ⬇️

So we've been getting rinsed by Palantir... go figure 🤷 Turns out we're quid's in when we junk them from our digital systems. Now we just need to replicate this across the State, getting rid of all the other Big Tech suppliers that over-charge and under-deliver. Bring on Digital Sovereignty 🌱

The consultation that could see digital ID checks sweep across the Internet ends today. ORG has submitted a response, outlining the threats to privacy and freedom of expression posed by the government's proposals. We set out a better way forward that tackles the cause of online harms. Read more ⬇️

🚨 LAST CHANCE 🚨 The online safety consultation closes TODAY. We must push back against more and more online ID checks. Making every adult hand over sensitive data to unregulated providers is itself UNSAFE. Let's take on Big Tech business models instead! Have your say ➡️ www.gov.uk/government/c...

Join @caatuk.bsky.social and @openrightsgroup.org on June 1st for a public meeting on Big Tech and the military-industrial complex? Come down to find out how companies like Palantir and technologies that we use every day perpetuate wars and genocides? Sign up here caat.org.uk/events/big-t...

1 DAY TO GO ⏰️ 💭 Tell the government to rethink online safety. ❌️ Creating a privacy timebomb with surveillance-based information blockades isn't the way. ✅️ We need user choice and better platform design, NOT mandatory ID checks. Have your say on a better way by 26 May ➡️ www.gov.uk/government/c...

We're paying a huge price for a policy that doesn't work. People adapt what they do online when parts of the Internet are put behind by intrusive ID checks. Why carry on like this when young Australians have found ways to bypass the social media ban? Respond by 26 May ➡️ www.gov.uk/government/c...

COMPETITION TIME 👀 We have a signed copy of Enshittification by Cory Doctorow to give away in celebration of @doctorow.pluralistic.net joining ORG as a patron. Enter the draw by 31 May 2026 ⬇️

Access to information shouldn't be ransomed for our personal data. We’ve gone from ID checks for porn to potentially age-gating social media, livestreams, websites and more. Safety doesn't come from a surveillance-based Internet 🚫 Respond to the consultation by 26 May ➡️ www.gov.uk/government/c...

4 DAYS LEFT ⏰️ There's not much time left to push back on the expansion of online ID checks across yet more of the Internet. The only way to block young people is to run checks on everyone. The sheer amount of sensitive data that represents is 🤯 Have your say by 26 May ➡️ www.gov.uk/government/c...

London, the next social is coming up soon! ORG is teaming up with Campaign Against Arms Trade for a special event. Join us to hear about the role of Big Tech firms like Palantir in wars and genocide. And what can we do about it. 🗓️ Mon 1 June 🕧️ 6:30–9pm BST 📍 Newspeak House, E2 7DG Register now ⬇️

Privacy is online safety ✊️ That's why the government gets it so wrong with ever more online ID checks. Either sensitive data gets stockpiled for attack, or people are driven to riskier parts of the Internet. It's lose-lose. ⏰️ Consultation closes 26 May. Have your say ➡️ www.gov.uk/government/c...

Sadiq Khan shows Palantir the door 🚪 This decision recognises that Big Tech has been grifting the UK for years, by locking us into their exclusive products, jacking up the fees and exporting profits. The future is open source, NOT shady US spyware companies. It's time for Digital Sovereignty 🌱

COMPETITION TIME 👀 We have a signed copy of Enshittification by Cory Doctorow to give away in celebration of @doctorow.pluralistic.net joining ORG as a patron. Enter the draw by 31 May 2026 ⬇️

1. The UK Information Commissioner stepped aside from his role this February. Under John Edwards' tenure, the ICO performed so badly that nobody noticed his absence until late April. This is why @openrightsgroup.org are launching a campaign to reform it. 🧵 www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/the-ico...

Ofcom's push for image scanning tech online is open to abuse. LBGTQ+ communities could be targeted by malicious reports, leading to content being wrongly censored. We raised this risk at consultation and Ofcom recognise it in the rights assessment. Its impact must be monitored and provide redress.

The UK data watchdog is all bark, no bite. From failing to investigate complaints to forgoing regulatory action in favour of a slap on the wrist, the ICO isn't doing its job. It's time that the regulator is overhauled, because data protection laws only work if they're enforced. Read our blog ⬇️

COMING UP 🔔 ORG's Exec Director @jim.killock.org.uk will be speaking about our work on digital sovereignty at @sussex.ac.uk's research symposium. Find out about our recent report and more. 🗓️ Tuesday 16 June 🕙️ 10am–3pm 📍 University of Sussex Campus Register now ⬇️

Children deserve to be safe online. But the sort of mandatory device-scanning software to block nudes, like SafeToNet, that Jess Philips raises in her resignation would undermine everyone's privacy and security. ORG supports measures that empower users and improve safety without mass surveillance.

REVEALED: Serious and widespread cyber security issues with Europol’s Computer Forensic Network. "These findings might indicate that there are insufficient safeguards to prevent unauthorised personnel from accessing and modifying data” as well as malicious actors. 🗣️ @jim.killock.org.uk for ORG.

“[P]olicies to prevent children from accessing pornography have been grown to the extent that we could need to provide ID in order to access social media, games and apps or use everyday features such as livestreams or feeds." 🗣️ ORG's James Baker on the call for a change in tack over online safety.

Summer is coming, so it's time to line up a garden/travel/pool read. We're giving away a copy of Enshittification signed by Cory Doctorow! Be in for your chance to win – enter the competition by 31 May 2026. Try your luck ⬇️

EFF joins 18 organizations in writing a letter to UK policymakers urging them to address the root causes of online harm—rather than undermining the open web through blunt restrictions www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

UK policymakers need to rethink online safety laws. A new joint statement warns that age-gating and access restrictions threaten to fragment the open Internet and erode the rights of all users. Read more about the statement from 19 organisations including ORG, @mozilla.org and @torproject.org ⬇️

Having Big Tech in the hen house is a major risk. It means the UK is exposed to the US using powers compel tech companies to discontinue services or conduct surveillance. That's why cross-party MPs have called for the secrecy around these risks to be lifted and added to the National Risk Register.

It is with heavy hearts that we share: RightsCon will not proceed in Zambia or online.

ORG calls on the ICO "to begin a formal investigation into data protection breaches and accessibility issues with the [eVisa] scheme." “Migrants are being failed by the Home Office, which didn’t properly assess the risks of a digital-only roll-out." 🗣️ ORG's @sarahalsherif.bsky.social. Read more ⬇️

Digital checkpoints will crop up all over the Internet after MPs backed new powers to expand age verification. The only way to block under-16s is to run checks on everybody. That's millions more people having to hand over personal data to unregulated providers just to access everyday services.

Papers, please! Digital ID age checks have taken another lunge forward. MPs have agreed to new powers to expand age verification across online platforms. Everyday web services will be locked behind digital checkpoints, despite the serious privacy and security risks of this system. Read more ⬇️

There needs to be an urgent rethink on digital ID age checks. Unregulated providers sitting on a pot of highly sensitive data. What could go wrong? Breaches have already happened, T&Cs allow them to use it for advertising purposes and behind-the-scenes links to surveillance companies. Read more ⬇️

The Home Office has responded to questions raised by @bellribeiroaddy.bsky.social on its use of AI tools in the asylum decision-making process, informed by ORG's work. The answers raise serious concerns. These systems are being rolled out without meaningful transparency or governance. Read more ⬇️

“For too long, the UK has been content to be a digital colony of Silicon Valley. We are ceding both economic value and strategic autonomy because we lack a coherent plan to stand on our own two feet.” 🗣️ @victoria-collins.bsky.social on the cross-party warning over the UK's dependence on US tech.

Announcing ORG's new patron, Cory Doctorow 🎉 Author, activist, journalist and co-founder of Open Rights Group, @doctorow.pluralistic.net is joining us to fight for digital rights. To celebrate, we're giving away a signed copy of Enshittification! Enter by 31 May to be in with your chance to win ⬇️

1/2 The UK’s dependence on Big Tech has left us dangerously vulnerable, particularly against a backdrop of increased geopolitical uncertainty as a result of US and Israeli military actions.

The UK isn’t a vassal state of America. Yet Trump wants to punish us over a digital services tax. This can be resolved by ditching US Big Tech from our digital infrastructure. We should invest in open source to promote economic growth through greater innovation and a more competitive tech sector.

Announcing ORG's new patron, Cory Doctorow 🎉 Author, activist, journalist and co-founder of Open Rights Group, @doctorow.pluralistic.net is joining us to fight for digital rights. To celebrate, we're giving away a signed copy of Enshittification! Enter by 31 May to be in with your chance to win ⬇️

The government needs to come clean about the UK's dependency on foreign tech companies for our critical infrastructure. Cross-party MPs have called for the publication of secret documents that detail the risks to UK national security and for the National Risk Register to be updated. Read more ⬇️

Did Palantir say the quiet bit out loud? Maybe not when clue's in the name that they're the bad guys trying to spy on everyone. But still, erm, bold to set out their sinister megalomania in a 22-point manifesto. They make the case for ditching Big Tech in favour of Digital Sovereignty for us tbh.

The problem with our dependency on Big Tech is evident in Palantir's NHS contract. Signing up to a 'subscription service' for one company's exclusive software leaves us with nothing when we end the contract. With open source, we don't have to start again with a new platform when changing vendors.

Check out the 'Resisting Big Tech Empires' conference taking place this Saturday from @globaljusticenow.bsky.social. Featuring Cory Doctorow and a slate of exciting speakers, it comes as concerns mount about the influence of Big Tech in the State and our private lives. 🗓️ 25 April 📍 London 🎟️ Free

The UK is in a toxic relationship. Hooking up our digital infrastructure to the proprietary systems of a few tech companies based abroad has left us over-charged and vulnerable to external threats. ORG calls on the government to put in place a UK Digital Sovereignty strategy based on open source.

TONIGHT 🔔 Come along to our Brighton meet-up. Sign up for your place ⬇️

More and more governments are waking up to the need for Digital Sovereignty. Being on the hook to US tech companies is a critical weakness in the UK's digital infrastructure. We get locked-in and dependent on products that can be used as political leverage. We must urgently follow the EU's lead.

The UK's love affair with Big Tech is toxic. A small number of companies have captured the market for the UK’s critical infrastructure from the NHS to defence. From this position, they’ve influenced policies that entrench the UK’s dependency. It's time to course correct with Digital Sovereignty.

"An urgent national security issue” Locking ourselves into exclusive products of US tech companies exposes us to foreign interference in our digital infrastructure. Sanctions, service withdrawal and espionage are all built-in features. We need Digital Sovereignty with open source. Read more ⬇️

"Every procurement decision that embeds foreign dependency, every compromise of sovereignty in the name of convenience, accumulates into strategic vulnerability." Lord Tim Clement Jones has supported our report setting out a roadmap for the government to implement a Digital Sovereignty strategy.