Ask HN: Summarise the UK Online Safety Act for Me

4 points·thorin··6 comments

Was reading lobste.rs from the UK and noticed this link on region locking out the UK users. After reading the thread it seems to be incredibly complex, and this is one of the main issues. Does anyone have a summary of the key issues that people are concerned about?

https://lobste.rs/s/ukosa1/uk_users_lobsters_needs_your_help_with#c_78isis

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Maybe start here: https://onlinesafetyact.co.uk/entry_criteria_for_user_to_use...

Yes, the OSA does seem to have been largely done as a performance without any technical reality allowed in. This is not the first time we have had such a dog's dinner for Internet related laws in the UK...

In the case of lobste.rs I think that there is no issue whatsoever and it is an overreaction.

That was my assumption too, I guess what I got out of that thread was that they would have no idea of whether they were going to be in violation or not or what the consequences would be.

They are a small forum in the USA, moderated, by invitation only, and about an innocuous technical subject matter so...

> they would have no idea of whether they were going to be in violation

does not matter, and

> or not or what the consequences would be.

none.

At a minimum, aren't the consequences that the owners will never be able to visit the UK again without getting jailed for the rest of their lives?

Why would they risk jail in the UK? They aren't doing anything wrong and the UK authorities would even know or care about that forum...

To suggest a risk of arrest (not even jail...) is more than over the top, it is utterly bizarre.

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