This use of visa rules is undoubtedly deplorable. On your side, do you see democracy as in need of protection from Reason magazine, assessed by GDI (whose CEO is on the list) as high risk of disinformation? reason.com/2023/02/14/g...

"Protecting democracy isn’t censorship. ✋🏼 Disinformation isn’t free speech." It is, however, freedom of expression within the ambit of Art 10 ECHR. Any interference has to be prescribed by law (i.e. reasonably precisely), for a legitimate public purpose, necessary and proportionate. #JustSaying

If anyone thinks that Art 35 DSA is ‘rules-based’, I have a bridge to sell them. And of course the Commission will never be able to live down Breton’s infamous letter. All that said, using visa rules in this way is deplorable.

The rhetoric in support of the original Online Safety Bill routinely equated in-scope services with social media, but to see it in print in an actual amendment is a new low.

Proposed amendment to the UK's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill would ban under 16s from "all regulated user-to-user services" – much broader than Aussie social media ban bills.parliament.uk/bills/3909/s... HT Neil Brown's blog decoded.legal/blog/2025/12... #censorship #openweb #techpolicy

Ofcom have now published the Additional Measures consultation responses. #OnlineSafetyAct (scroll down to the bottom of the page) www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

Ofcom have now published the Additional Measures consultation responses. #OnlineSafetyAct (scroll down to the bottom of the page) www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...

Interesting stuff, but more in the nature of bare policy advocacy than anything to do with the ECHR Art 10 right. www.coe.int/en/web/freed...

📘 The official edition of the “Preparatory Work” of the Convention is now available in digital format. ➡️ This fully searchable digital PDF has been made possible thanks to @degruyterbrill.bsky.social, which digitised all eight volumes free of charge. www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/...

Progress update from IPCO. www.ipco.org.uk/news/investi...

Interesting stuff, but more in the nature of bare policy advocacy than anything to do with the ECHR Art 10 right. www.coe.int/en/web/freed...

"The government signposts end-to-end encryption as a threat, but what they fail to consider is that breaking it would be a threat to our national security too." Our CEO @jemimahsteinfeld.bsky.social on the urgent need to protect end-to-end encryption: www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-priv...

#ECJ: The admissibility of an action for infringement of the #copyright of a collective work must ensure respect for the right to #effectivejudicialprotection, without making the procedure unnecessarily complex or costly 👉 curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo...

Yesterday, NetChoice won a permanent block of Louisiana's age verification law. The Court ruled that the law, which conditioned Louisianans’ ability to access protected speech online on their willingness to hand over sensitive government ID, violates the First Amendment. buff.ly/MtZNKCU

Also linking my State Threat report published yesterday in case of interest - it is quite technical but I hope measures and inquisitive about how law does and might work: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69411a...

What does the UK Online Safety Act actually do? I've tried to summarise in a neutral one-pager for interested members of the public (OFCOM's website is very complex). That's the goal. Suggestions for improvements (to the one-pager, not the Act!) gratefully received.

Props, Investigatory Powers Commissioner's 2024 Annual Report out months earlier than in recent years. ipco-wpmedia-prod-s3.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/IPCO-Annual-...

🚨 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 🚨 In our last entry of 2025, Dr 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗿 𝗘𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 (University of Birmingham) examines the death of French streamer Jean Pormanove, who died live on the Australian-based platform Kick after days of on-camera abuse, watched by thousands and monetised in real time.

Online Safety Act 2023: Repeal hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025... Hansard of yesterday's debate Non-serious. Contributions mostly from MPs who think OSA doesn't go far enough; even those with criticisms fall in line with the "unintended consequences" narrative #censorship #openweb #techpolicy

All but the last two (lots about freedom of expression, but no absolutists). Bonus Wild West, AI chatbots, online-offline equivalence and anti-lock brakes.

Atkinson: "If a new message board were being set up today, using new tech standards, I would hope that safety by design would be much more embedded and therefore the responsibilities that fall to individual volunteers and administrators would be lessened as a result." Anyone care to translate?

Watch live: A petition to repeal the UK’s Online Safety Act is being debated in Parliament right now. We urge the government to rethink breaking end-to-end encryption which endangers all of our privacy and safety: www.youtube.com/live/7ixue9r...

The UK Online Safety Act is vital public-interest legislation that protects kids & tackles illegal content online The OSA is the ONLY mechanism holding social media accountable to protect kids online in the UK. Why would anyone want to repeal it? The OSA must be effectively enforced.

Online Safety Act repeal debate bingo: - Children - Terrorism - Tech giants - Small but high risk - Algorithms - VPNs - Safety by design - We all knew it wasn't perfect - Should go further - Freedom of expression absolutists - Critics who haven't read the Act

A petition to repeal the UK’s Online Safety Act will be debated in Parliament at 4:30pm today. As MPs gather to debate it, we urge the government to rethink breaking end-to-end encryption which endangers journalism at home and around the world: www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/12/inve...

“However, two years after the OSA became law, twice as many people (37% vs 19%) are reporting having experienced no change in online safety than are reporting an improvement. This raises questions about the pace of progress.” 1/2

Repeal, reform, rewrite? What should we do about the #OnlineSafetyAct?

Repeal, reform, rewrite? What should we do about the #OnlineSafetyAct?

“In short, speech is not a tripping hazard and it was folly to design legislation as if it were.” #OnlineSafetyAct www.cyberleagle.com/2025/12/repe...

Parliamentary brief for tomorrow’s #OnlineSafetyAct repeal petition debate from the Online Safety Act Network @osanetwork.bsky.social. www.onlinesafetyact.net/documents/10...

“In short, speech is not a tripping hazard and it was folly to design legislation as if it were.” #OnlineSafetyAct www.cyberleagle.com/2025/12/repe...

New on my blog: "Repeal, reform, rewrite?" #OnlineSafetyAct www.cyberleagle.com/2025/12/repe...

New on my blog: "Repeal, reform, rewrite?" #OnlineSafetyAct www.cyberleagle.com/2025/12/repe...

Banning children from online games, and spying on every device: Why we must oppose Baroness Benjamin’s attack on liberty www.libdemvoice.org/banning-chil...

Extensive commentary from ORG on the #OnlineSafetyAct

The Online Safety Act is already producing harmful unintended consequences. ORG urges MPs to support a more balanced, evidence-based and rights-respecting approach that protects children without harming freedom of expression or privacy. Read our briefing ⬇️ www.openrightsgroup.org/publications...

The first paragraph of Judge Breyer‘s opinion granting an injunction in the California National Guard case is a banger.

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

All travelers from ESTA countries (yes the ones on visa waiver programs) will have to disclose 5 years of social media + huge amounts of personal data to enter the US now. All US academic associations should now meet outside the US if we want to meet our international colleagues.

This is INSANE www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/t... and these are our closest allies!

If there was anything that Parliamentarians of all stripes were concerned about during the passage of the Bill, it was that Ofcom should have regulatory independence. Now they fall over each other to tell Ofcom how to do its job.

Australia eSafety regulator says she once had doubts about teen social media ban www.mlex.com/mlex/data-pr...

Digital ID hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025... Hansard transcript of a packed debate in the UK House of Commons yesterday Petition petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73... Government sez thanks for your input #digitalID #govtech #techpolicy #dataprotection #masssurveillance #databasestate

"Sovereignty and Respect – The United States will unapologetically protect our own sovereignty. This includes preventing its erosion by transnational and international organizations, attempts by foreign powers or entities to censor our discourse or curtail our citizens’ free speech rights, ..." 1/2

The ineluctable logic of regulation by regulator. 2020: “Let‘s put Ofcom in charge of online safety.” 2025: “Ofcom is too timid, too slow, too bureaucratic, and it‘s not doing what we imagined it would.” 2026: “Let’s give Ofcom more to do.”

Kendall: “I did task officials with looking at whether there were gaps, whether all AI chatbots were covered by the Act. My understanding from their work is they aren't. I am now looking at how we will cover them and if that requires legislation, then that is what we will do.”

If this is still in it, words fail really. This cannot be derived from the ECHR. To the contrary, if enacted by a Member State as drafted it would be in breach. Coming from the custodian of the Convention it would be astounding if proposed, let alone adopted.

My baby has started babbling. She wants to participate in the discourse. She yearns to produce content.