Dropsafe

by Alec Muffett

Ofcom’s [attempted] browbeating of Canada-based online depression forum into compliance with Online Safety Act “Age Verification”

This Reddit post; it’s the UK that loses out:

“It’s an old-school internet forum from late 1990s, still chugging alone today. I started getting email from Ofcom around November 2025 and now have multiple letters. I’ve repeatedly told them I’m from Canada, I’m not based in the UK. Eventually, I blocked all UK IP addresses in mid-February 2026 and told them I’d blocked the UK and that I was done engaging with them. [But…]”

I run a self-help forum for people with depression. Ofcom has been bombarding me with emails demanding I start ID-verifying and age gating my website.
byu/HealthSad6716 inLegalAdviceUK
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Fediverse reactions

Comments

3 responses to “Ofcom’s [attempted] browbeating of Canada-based online depression forum into compliance with Online Safety Act “Age Verification””

  1. vksxypants

    @alecm The site has already blocked all UK users… So what would Ofcom's enforcement be? Blocking the site from all UK users…. again?

  2. Paul Lockett

    @alecm

    Taken at face value, it demonstrates a quiet and significant shift in Ofcom's position that blocking UK IPs is sufficient to take a service out of scope.

    1. alecm

      Perhaps regrettably that is not their position

      Reply

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