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Joint Statement on the UN Cybercrime Convention: EFF and Global Partners Urge Governments Not to Sign | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Of course it was doomed to failure. Alas. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/joint-statement-un-cybercrime-convention-eff-and-global-partners-urge-governments
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Ben Schroeter at EurActive: “It’s not that Europe regulates. It’s how it regulates” | Um, I’m not convinced…
It’s a good read, but some of what is listed as “admirable regulation” are not necessarily so — but having that complex conversation is not possible in the current environment. But perhaps that’s what Ben’s getting at? European values may be admirable but what matters is how they’re implemented. Principle without pragmatism paralyses. In trying
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Could the Online Safety Act threaten the safety of Wikipedia editors? | Pod Save The UK | Jimmy Wales Interview…
In case you missed it, new PSUK dropped on Thursday. Head over to our channel to catch Wikipedia founder @jimmy_wales digging into trust, culture wars and AI. Link: https://megaphone.link/CROOKEDMEDIAINC3408432575
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Is age verification killing porn site traffic? Aylo says yes, AVPA says no | BiometricUpdate
A comprehensive read on the current OSA state of play; notable is reportage of commentary by the age verification lobby’s Iain Corby apparently suggesting that the OSA is geared at protecting younger kids, also contradicting PornHub’s own reports of traffic drops: AVPA agrees. Corby brings some heavy numbers to his talk, claiming that the association’s
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UK traffic to porn sites falls by a third after new age verification rules | FT | …but actually they’re using either VPN or far more dodgy websites
UK traffic to [PornHub] has fallen by 77 per cent since the new rules were introduced in the Online Safety Act, according to Alex Kekesi, head of community and brand at Aylo. … “We were honestly shocked,” Kekesi said in an interview. FT (archived) via: biometricupdate
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Age verification could soon land in Russia – putting already precarious internet freedoms on the line | TechRadar
I’m looking forward to a statement from either Ofcom or DSIT welcoming the protection of children in Russia: https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/age-verification-could-soon-land-in-russia-putting-already-precarious-internet-freedoms-on-the-line …the article is a good read, not least for pointing to what will likely next happen to VPNs in the West: Motivated by their concerns, people in the UK and the US have flocked to the best
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The House | Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales Warns Of “Political Showdown” With UK Government Over Online Safety Act
…applied to Wikipedia, a free online encyclopaedia that relies on collaborative editing … “[the OSA] makes no sense whatsoever,” says Wales. “If you and I are in a debate about the contents of an article, and we’ve both been editing it, and I decide to stop you from doing any further editing on the article,
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“UK Expands Online Safety Act, Forcing Preemptive Censorship” | I’ve not heard Wikipedia complaining about this, but they will be impacted
The Molly Rose Foundation is obliquely critiquing a US-based suicide-discussion website – one which if you go looking *does* have a page on Wikipedia… so this is going to flush out the Wikipedia censorship question all over again, and it’s going to be right up there with the 4chan/Ofcom arguments over the 1st amendment, free
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Messageboard 4chan refuses to pay fine over ‘free speech’
The fine represents the first major test of the Online Safety Act’s reach. If 4chan continues to ignore Ofcom’s requests, the regulator could seek a court order to force UK internet service providers to block access to the site. A spokesperson for Ofcom said “sites that don’t comply and put people and children in the
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UK Expands Online Safety Act, Forcing Preemptive Censorship
Who would ever have expected? Britain’s push for online “safety” drifts into a realm of digital pre-crime, where algorithms decide guilt before anything gets seen. https://reclaimthenet.org/uk-online-safety-act-expands-preemptive-censorship-rules
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UK MPs demand Home Secretary call on Apple to make iPhone more resistant to data exfiltration, backdoors, hacking, and third-party repair…
“Oh, Wait, No, Not like that.” MPs urge UK government to stop phone theft wave through tech | The Register https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/25/uk_committee_phone_theft/
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