JamesBrown
Well-known member
How many of those fined were niche forum owners?
UK Online Safety Regulations and impact on Forums
- Thread starter lazy llama
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How many of those fined were niche forum owners?
zappaDPJ
Well-known member
I've already stepped away from two forums that I admin because I know the owners are unlikely to comply with the act and both carry content that is not age appropriate for minors.
I also run two forums on behalf of commercial entities both of whom own the domain. It's their decision to make and I think one will close.
As for my own forums, two are by invitation only, not accessible/readable for anyone except invited members. The act doesn't appear to cater for that scenario so I'm waiting for legal guidance but they certainly won't be closed down.
I also have one other large 20 year old+ forum which moved to Facebook a while ago so activity levels are low. That I will probably place in read only mode or depending on the member's wishes, shut down completely. But regardless it doesn't as I understand it fall under the remit of the act.
I don't have access to that information and it's usually the case that level of detail is not to the best of my knowledge made available. If it's an individual running a niche site it would probably be against GDPR regulations to release that information.
Suzanne O
Well-known member
Hey @JamesBrown zappa only knows how his forums went.
He's no knowitall.
Let me guess you had to shutdown your forum too?
Don't take it out on us.
Take it out on UK laws
He's no knowitall.
Let me guess you had to shutdown your forum too?
Don't take it out on us.
Take it out on UK laws
JamesBrown
Well-known member
So even though we had 18 months of doom here about GPDR, we don't know a forum owner who fell foul and was punished. My opinion this will be the same.
Try as I might, I just cannot foresee any genuine well managed niche forum owners being prosecuted, which means I just can't get myself as worked up about this as some appear to be.
ForumFan
Well-known member
For me it was a matter of principle. I just blocked all EU countries from my forum. Easier. My niche wouldn't appeal to most of them anyway.
Nope! Thankfully, I don't have to abide European laws.... by simply blocking those countries. Though, I feel for forum owners in Europe / UK. It would appear they are making it near impossible to keep them open without possibly running afoul of the law. Sure, they "pinky swear" they won't come after the small niche forums.... Yeah... sure, they won't. If they're going after commoners and jailing them for posting "offensive" content on Facebook, well... nobody is safe. Very sad.
I just came across this. I wondered if it had been published recently in response to small forums closing down but it's dated January 2025? Unless they just updated an existing page.
"We’ve heard concerns from some smaller services that the new rules will be too burdensome for them. Some of them believe they don’t have the resources to dedicate to assessing risk on their platforms, and to making sure they have measures in place to help them comply with the rules. As a result, some smaller services feel they might need to shut down completely.
So, we wanted to reassure those smaller services that this is unlikely to be the case."
"Unfortunately, we also know that harm can exist on the smallest as well as the largest services. So, there are basic steps that all in-scope services need to take to assure themselves and their users that they understand the risks that exist on their service and, where necessary, the steps they will take to mitigate them."
Link below. So basically they are saying - don't worry but you still have to comply with the guidance. Which means child assessments etc.
This also kind of contradicts the bit in the telegraph saying fines for small sites are likely to only be negligible or in the "small thousands".
www.ofcom.org.uk
"We’ve heard concerns from some smaller services that the new rules will be too burdensome for them. Some of them believe they don’t have the resources to dedicate to assessing risk on their platforms, and to making sure they have measures in place to help them comply with the rules. As a result, some smaller services feel they might need to shut down completely.
So, we wanted to reassure those smaller services that this is unlikely to be the case."
"Unfortunately, we also know that harm can exist on the smallest as well as the largest services. So, there are basic steps that all in-scope services need to take to assure themselves and their users that they understand the risks that exist on their service and, where necessary, the steps they will take to mitigate them."
Link below. So basically they are saying - don't worry but you still have to comply with the guidance. Which means child assessments etc.
This also kind of contradicts the bit in the telegraph saying fines for small sites are likely to only be negligible or in the "small thousands".
Helping small services navigate the Online Safety Act
As the UK’s regulator for online safety, Ofcom makes sure organisations that provide online services are carrying out their duties to comply with new rules, to help protect their users from harmful content.
zappaDPJ
Well-known member
Along with the potential fines, that's something else which has been majorly misinterpreted. The actual wording is this:
So what they are saying is compliance for small sites comes cheap at just a few thousand pounds. Clearly a negligible amount of money for everyone here, no?
lazy llama
Well-known member
That wasn’t the fines though, it was the cost of compliance. If it were the fines, it would probably be cheaper to wait to be fined than to bother trying to comply.
(Beaten to it by @zappaDPJ )
One thing that got me was some of the seemingly contradictory elements. As well as avoiding bullying hate, harrassment, child risks etc etc, you also have to make sure you allow "freedom of speech". And allow complaints. I could see a difficult banned member opening a complaint or appeal saying it was discrimination or a breach of their "freedom of speech". And who determines if something is bullying or just two strong minded people exerting their "freedom of speech".
JamesBrown
Well-known member
Well I might fall foul of that. I never allow freedom of speech on my forums, and have a list of banned topics. Could you point that part out for me. Thanks
Remember users' rights to privacy and free expression
"When implementing safety measures and policies – including on illegal harm and the protection of children – you will need to consider the importance of protecting users’ privacy and freedom of expression.
Ofcom will consider any risks to these rights when preparing our codes of practice and other guidance, and include appropriate safeguards."
Further down this page - click on a plus sign
www.ofcom.org.uk
I'm just wondering if this is good or not - ie is it a possible get-out clause or something even more difficult to comply with.
"When implementing safety measures and policies – including on illegal harm and the protection of children – you will need to consider the importance of protecting users’ privacy and freedom of expression.
Ofcom will consider any risks to these rights when preparing our codes of practice and other guidance, and include appropriate safeguards."
Further down this page - click on a plus sign
Guide for services: complying with the Online Safety Act
The Online Safety Act makes businesses responsible for keeping people, especially children, safe online. Here’s what you need to know and do now.
I'm just wondering if this is good or not - ie is it a possible get-out clause or something even more difficult to comply with.
JamesBrown
Well-known member
Remember users' rights to privacy and free expression
"When implementing safety measures and policies – including on illegal harm and the protection of children – you will need to consider the importance of protecting users’ privacy and freedom of expression.
Ofcom will consider any risks to these rights when preparing our codes of practice and other guidance, and include appropriate safeguards."
Further down this page - click on a plus sign
Guide for services: complying with the Online Safety Act
The Online Safety Act makes businesses responsible for keeping people, especially children, safe online. Here’s what you need to know and do now.
I'm just wondering if this is good or not - ie is it a possible get-out clause or something even more difficult to comply with.
Thanks, it looks woolly enough to ignore, so I will.
FTL
Well-known member
There's no "bit of work", it's actually a headache to do, hence this thread going for over 600 posts. There's a ton of stuff to read and understand, some of the requirements aren't even complete in the legislation, so will have to be addressed once they are, and submitting all the information is lengthy and finally, it might be expensive to mitigate the alleged threats described, perhaps to the point where it's unaffordable. Take my forum for example: I run it on a shoestring budget and with no ads, so if I suddenly have to start paying hundreds or even thousands of pounds to make it compliant, I'd be forced to close it down and that would be the end of my forum dream (and feel very pissed off about it, too).
Sure, some people will use difficulties as an excuse to close a forum if they were already inclined that way. I don't see what's different here.
zappaDPJ
Well-known member
It's a prime example along with the so called negligible costs of compliance ("in the small thousands at most") which demonstrates a lack of understanding of how the Internet actually works.Thanks, it looks woolly enough to ignore, so I will.
The people that are creating these rules are probably too young to understand the Internet was built on groups of enthusiastic individuals sitting at home dabbling with code and bulletin boards. That's literally how Facebook started.
Their effort to control content while insisting that you preserve the right to freedom of expression will never achieve its stated aim, to protect children from harm. More likely it'll deny them access to safe environments and drive the really harmful material deeper underground where it will flourish.
FTL
Well-known member
Thing is, it's already underground on the dark web, so targeting public websites like ours does nothing. However, the private messaging function in forum software is still hidden by definition, so is covered. I still don't think it will achieve much however, even there.
I still think the onus should be on parents to put parental control software on childrens devices and decide what they are allowed to view - IMO Or on device manufacturers to only sell child-friendly devices under a certain age, with pre-installed parental controls etc. School computers have had word blocking for years - which used to cause some laughs when they couldn't research the famous Victorian author Charles ****-ens Noting the first part of his name was automatically censored on here! The asterisks weren't mine - they just appeared.
So that suggests XF has the ability to filter out inappropriate language - is it a setting now?
So that suggests XF has the ability to filter out inappropriate language - is it a setting now?
Obviously this is a high risk site but some info about accepted age verification software. Ofcom investigating them. I'm still hoping something makes it easier to run my sites again in future and possibly start up again. What we need is some bright opensource geek to make free ofcom approved age verification software IMO! Quickly!
It does suggest Ofcom are only going to go after the serious stuff - unless someone makes a complaint possibly.
www.ofcom.org.uk
It does suggest Ofcom are only going to go after the serious stuff - unless someone makes a complaint possibly.
Ofcom investigates OnlyFans’ age verification measures
Ofcom has today opened an investigation into whether OnlyFans is doing enough to prevent children accessing pornography on its site.
OnlyFans: government-approved ID tech at heart of Ofcom investigation
An investigation has been launched into the age verification practices of OnlyFans, handled by government-approved digital ID startup Yoti.
www.uktech.news
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Suzanne O
Well-known member
Censoring can be found under options in your admincp