Finally, we’re safe from the nasty predators in (check notes) cycling forums.
The UK’s Online Safety Act does, on the face of it, seem supremely flawed—for one, you can get past some of its age verification requirements with a picture of Norman Reedus. Or by just grabbing a VPN.
Detractors state the act isn’t fit for purpose—not just because it’s straightforward to bypass, but because of the severe knock-on effects to internet culture, free speech and, some would argue, the very child safety it tries to promote.
If you’re one of these people, including the 300,000 (and counting) who’ve signed the Change.org petition, the UK’s very own technology secretary thinks you’re waving the flag for «extreme pornographers» and «predators». Sorry.
That’s per statements by secretary of state for science, innovation and technology Peter Kyle—who accused Reform party head Nigel Farage of being on the side of «extreme pornographers» to Sky News. Kyle would then later double down on X, writing: «If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators. It is as simple as that.»
Kyle might just be trying to score optics points against Reform, here, but this is, in my opinion, obviously wrong-headed. If we take a charitable read, ‘overturn’ is different from ‘change’, but it’s hard not to see this as painting all critics of the act with the same pervy brush.
