Not who you’re responding to but techlinked called out that it’s illegal as well and showed the legislation text in their video. But if you’re not implementing the ID check in the first place then mentioning vpns doesn’t matter at all. I can’t even get your link to load.
According to Ofcom, platforms must not host, share or permit content encouraging use of VPNs to get around age checks.
The government told the BBC under the Online Safety Act, it will be illegal for platforms to do this.
Ofcom is the regulator so I’m guessing they read the law a little more closely than you. And BBC states that the government explicitly told them it would be illegal.
Yeah, that would be the first time enforcement didn’t really bother to read the law they should be enforcing.
So they might add it later when stuff like this becomes more common, but right now it’s not illegal, according to the law and disregarding everything else that doesn’t really have any legal hold and is really just a guideline.
In addition, service providers should not publish content on their service that directs or encourages UK users to circumvent the age assurance process or the access controls, for example by providing information about or links to a virtual private network (VPN) which may be used by children to circumvent the relevant processes.
Ofcom is the designated regulator and has the power of enforcement. The law doesn’t define what age verification means, only that it much be ‘highly effective’ (Section 12 (6)). It is therefore left to Ofcom to set out in its Code of Practices (Section 41 (3)) what ‘highly effective age verification’ means, which is what this guidance is. This isn’t Ofcom being nice, this is them telling you how they’re going to enforce the law.
Nobody is above law. If UK courts are not entirely corrupted, they’ll rule according to the law. This happens all the time with law enforcement enforcing more than the law says.
Source? Cause mine (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/50 aka the fucking law) doesn’t say anything like that.
Not who you’re responding to but techlinked called out that it’s illegal as well and showed the legislation text in their video. But if you’re not implementing the ID check in the first place then mentioning vpns doesn’t matter at all. I can’t even get your link to load.
Edit: timestamp 1:50 https://youtu.be/uGJHzPHOFXM
I don’t believe guidelines are above the actual law.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1k81lj8nvpo
Ofcom is the regulator so I’m guessing they read the law a little more closely than you. And BBC states that the government explicitly told them it would be illegal.
Yeah, that would be the first time enforcement didn’t really bother to read the law they should be enforcing.
So they might add it later when stuff like this becomes more common, but right now it’s not illegal, according to the law and disregarding everything else that doesn’t really have any legal hold and is really just a guideline.
You didn’t read the second sentence of that quote.
Simple defense: “I wasn’t encouraging anything, I was just informing them.”
Reddit is super-screwed then because its full of users doing exactly that anywhere this topic comes up.
I very much doubt it has anything to do with being a citizen. The law would apply to the company making the statements itself.
“platforms must not host, share or permit content encouraging use of VPNs to get around age checks.”
I’ll also note that this doesn’t seem to even be in the official documentation.
Section 4.37 of Ofcom’s Guidance on Highly Effective Age Assurance for Part 3 Services:
Should, not must. Like the highway code should rules and must rules.
That’s guidance, not law.
Ofcom is the designated regulator and has the power of enforcement. The law doesn’t define what age verification means, only that it much be ‘highly effective’ (Section 12 (6)). It is therefore left to Ofcom to set out in its Code of Practices (Section 41 (3)) what ‘highly effective age verification’ means, which is what this guidance is. This isn’t Ofcom being nice, this is them telling you how they’re going to enforce the law.
Nobody is above law. If UK courts are not entirely corrupted, they’ll rule according to the law. This happens all the time with law enforcement enforcing more than the law says.
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Well, nope.
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