UK Online Safety Regulations and impact on Forums

[lazy llama]

From what I recall, there's nothing to define what constitutes a 'user'. Does that include guests? Is the number of times a particular user visits within a month to be counted? What about bots? Or do they really mean page views and not users?

That's just one example of so many ambiguities present within OFCOM's torrent of word salad.

It does actually have a go at defining a user:

“User”, “United Kingdom user” and “interested person”​

(1 )For the purposes of this Act a user is a “United Kingdom user” of a service if—

(a) where the user is an individual, the individual is in the United Kingdom;

(b) where the user is an entity, the entity is incorporated or formed under the law of any part of the United Kingdom.

(2) For the purposes of references in this Act to a user of a service it does not matter whether a person is registered to use a service.

Online Safety Act 2023

www.legislation.gov.uk

So a guest would count, but a bot would not?

Not saying that's a usable definition, but they have a stab at it.
(How do you know a user is an individual in the UK - could be on a VPN, could be an AI....)

 

[🔥Iggy🔥]

Or even cycling hamster forums.

those will be the first....cant even find a gif for that ;P
for real tho it feels like they just want to be able to kill any website they dont like and the best way to do that is keeping things vague.....its also probably the best way to limit challenges as well....pretty convenient response like, ask your lawyer to contact us etc. ugh....it sounds like they are already working on the next round of privacy busting legislation as well so i start to think its best to just exclude the uk and hopefully the citizens will pressure the leaderships more effectively? it also seems like they want to leave themselves room to flip positions if it gains favors with elites so its hard to respect at all....if only it was a genuine concern but they are testing for control and what money they can squeeze out.

what does it mean to discord come monday or all this front line first wave etc, i still cant imagine really its all so shady and dodgy like they are submarined picking for cash targets

 

[rogerl]

Category 1 U2U means 34 million UK users active each month, or 7 million UK users active if they can share “regulated user-generated content”, both with content recommender systems.

I would imagine that excludes most Xenforo admins.

Correct. My take on it was we don't have to send them any documentation unless they ask for it (they really don't want to be inundated with it).

However another part of their documents which I read say that all U2U services (ie. us) must register with Ofcom and give the name of their responsible person and I can't find anywhere where we are supposed to register.

They will also be imposing an annual fee from next year, but at least for now that looks like it will apply only to large services.

 

[Alvin63]

Correct. My take on it was we don't have to send them any documentation unless they ask for it (they really don't want to be inundated with it).

However another part of their documents which I read say that all U2U services (ie. us) must register with Ofcom and give the name of their responsible person and I can't find anywhere where we are supposed to register.

They will also be imposing an annual fee from next year, but at least for now that looks like it will apply only to large services.

What I saw I think was on the Ofcom site where it said you have to email it to the email address on the Ofcom page (the page where you go through the checks as to what you need to do). It may also have said that on the download form on that page that you complete with the 17 risks and assessments and quote any evidence. I took it that that is the completed form you need to email and shows all 17 levels of risk assessment. Negligible, low, medium or high.

 

[Alvin63]

those will be the first....cant even find a gif for that ;P
for real tho it feels like they just want to be able to kill any website they dont like and the best way to do that is keeping things vague.....its also probably the best way to limit challenges as well....pretty convenient response like, ask your lawyer to contact us etc. ugh....it sounds like they are already working on the next round of privacy busting legislation as well so i start to think its best to just exclude the uk and hopefully the citizens will pressure the leaderships more effectively? it also seems like they want to leave themselves room to flip positions if it gains favors with elites so its hard to respect at all....if only it was a genuine concern but they are testing for control and what money they can squeeze out.

what does it mean to discord come monday or all this front line first wave etc, i still cant imagine really its all so shady and dodgy like they are submarined picking for cash targets

Thanks. Just to add that is a totally unsuitable wheel for a hamster! Dangerous. Has wire mesh, places to get injured and too small (running with a bent back). Just can't stop posting about these things Unfortunately those are the only kind of images you can find about hamster wheels on photo sites etc which are all very outdated. This is a hamster wheel 11" diameter - no mesh, nothing unsafe.

 

[Mr Lucky]

This is a hamster wheel 11" diameter - no mesh, nothing unsafe.

It the hamster doesn’t seem to realise it’s a wheel.

 

[Alvin63]

It the hamster doesn’t seem to realise it’s a wheel.

They will run in any type of wheel shaped object! Although they can stop using a wheel if it starts causing back pain- then they have pent up energy, go crazy and try and chew their way out.

The small wheels that curve the back can cause long term spinal problems.

Sorry - I’ll stop going on about hamsters!

 

[hkymre]

I’ve just stumbled on this via mastodon-

Save our sites - Write to your MP

Small UK websites, user-to-user services and even computer games that are completely safe and well managed, are faced with difficult paperwork, risks assessments, registration and fines thanks to the Online Safety Act. Even personal blogs with comments are forced to undergo these difficult tests...

action.openrightsgroup.org

I doubt it will change anything , but worth a try

 

[FTL]

That Act is really invasive, bloody hell. Talk about government overreach. Everywhere one looks, the West is slowly becoming more totalitarian and restrictive. Awful.

 

[Alvin63]

Yes that's right. Now I've removed it and just have the home page and no interaction or links it is not subject to the legislation. As an active forum, it was.

 

[Alvin63]

That Act is really invasive, bloody hell. Talk about government overreach. Everywhere one looks, the West is slowly becoming more totalitarian and restrictive. Awful.

I think there's good motivation behind it, to protect kids in a world of online everything. I think terrorism online is maybe not that common! Suicide groups etc. It's protecting people. BUT - it seems a bit thrown together in a hurry and some bits don't seem quite right or well explained - it's like - do something or else by x day, but we haven't finished telling you exactly what you need to do, when yet and have more to come.

I had a thought they might have had someone in particular in mind when they drafted the details. Someone with a very large social media site.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Someone with a very large social media site.

Who will get away with not doing anything.

 

[rogerl]

- do something or else by x day, but we haven't finished telling you exactly what you need to do, when yet and have more to come.

and a ps. UK Government sites are exempt (because they find it too difficult to implement?). That bit stinks.

 

[FTL]

I think there's good motivation behind it, to protect kids in a world of online everything. I think terrorism online is maybe not that common! Suicide groups etc. It's protecting people. BUT - it seems a bit thrown together in a hurry and some bits don't seem quite right or well explained - it's like - do something or else by x day, but we haven't finished telling you exactly what you need to do, when yet and have more to come.

I had a thought they might have had someone in particular in mind when they drafted the details. Someone with a very large social media site.

I'm sure some of it is genuine, but governments of any political persuasion always love to grab more power no matter which one, so that part is a lot bigger than you think. Forcing small communities like yours and others to shut down is a travesty that makes me so angry. You can't get more innocuous than cute hamsters!

Who will get away with not doing anything.

I may be wrong, but I think $$$ and then a lot more $$$ may be helping them achieve this...

 

[benFF]

Given that, do I need to send them anything, or is it just a question of doing a written audit for your own site, and then storing that?

I came to ask same thing. Can we just use the template given by Eva and keep it local?

 

[Ozzy47]

I have released two addons to help admins ensure that their conversation/direct message system isn't being used for illegal or nefarious actions without their knowledge.

https://xenforo.com/community/resources/ozzmodz-search-all-conversations-dms.9847/

https://xenforo.com/community/resources/ozzmodz-conversation-dm-keyword-monitor.9848/

 

[robt]

I have shuttered one forum.

Another forum I have removed DM/PM functions and restricted registration for now as I look into hooking in https://stripe.com/gb/identity or similar.

 

[Alvin63]

I'm sure some of it is genuine, but governments of any political persuasion always love to grab more power no matter which one, so that part is a lot bigger than you think. Forcing small communities like yours and others to shut down is a travesty that makes me so angry. You can't get more innocuous than cute hamsters!


I may be wrong, but I think $$$ and then a lot more $$$ may be helping them achieve this...

Exactly. Although I am sure most forums have had the odd disgruntled banned member who complains .......... I think that's what some people were worried about. Got rid of my problematic members a long time ago and yes not only was the topic innoccuous but they were all pet lovers with an ethos in life! However it was very quiet with just a handful of active members. The main reason people joined was to read the articles - which I've left online as just a dumbed down info page - no links, no logins, no members. If my life had been different I might have done something different but have enough on my plate in life as it is.

 

[Alvin63]

If Xenforo could include legal age verification I might start my two remaing ones back up again - maybe. One of three is completely deleted as it was dead anyway.

 

[Mr Lucky]

If Xenforo could include legal age verification I might start my two remaing ones back up again

But that is only relevant to one of the 17 types of harm, and also seems to be only relevant to porn sites. Not hamsters