Op-Ed: How the UK’s New Online Safety Act Risks Pushing Young People to Dangerous Spaces Online

(The following op-ed, written by cybersecurity expert, Joseph Steinberg, appeared in Byline Times, Britain’s leading independent, reader-funded, investigative newspaper.)

Swiftly upon entering government, Labour classified the sharing of revenge porn as the most serious type of online offence under the landmark Online Safety Act (OSA), which it inherited from the Conservatives.

With the new Labour government setting out in the King’s Speech its intention to strengthen the OSA, it’s timely to consider other areas of this landmark legislation where changes or a rethink is needed to ensure the State can regulate the internet to keep people safe while preserving fundamental liberties such as freedom of speech and privacy.

The OSA provides the independent regulator Ofcom with powers to set codes of conduct for how British citizens use the internet, and to penalise companies that fail to comply with the regulator’s demands.

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How the Online Safety Act Risks Pushing Young People to Dangerous Spaces Online