Looks like this Bill is set to close a bike forum I’m a member of that’s been running since 2007. Any impact here?
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Define “significant number of uk users”
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/guide-for-services/#who
It won’t apply to forums like this. There is no way of policing it either.
To quote Walter from the Big Lebowski,
« Has the whole world gone crazy!!!? «
I don’t get how that law could be used to close a bike forum. But that’s the point I guess. You can use those rules for all sorts.
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They run a platform with about 500 communities on it. They don’t have the money to become compliant nor the money for any litigation.
"The Act would also require me to scan images uploading for Child Sexual Abuse Material and other harmful content, it requires me to register as the responsible person for this and file compliance. It places technical costs, time costs, risk, and liability, onto myself as the volunteer who runs it all… and even if someone else took it over those costs would pass to them if the users are based in the UK.
It is a disproportionate burden for small sites and local communities that are independently operated by individuals. It’s scope covers personally operated fediverse websites, community forums self hosted on cheap VPS’s, and so forth, it’s a dragnet of a law, and the phrase for what happens in these circumstances is chilling effect.
I am very likely the first to act, but running so many fora means my risk feels a lot higher to me. I imagine the volunteer running a small church group does not understand the risk they are now exposed to, and won’t appreciate the scope of the law in question, they may perform the compliance and in time someone who is a volunteer running a service will be caught by this, as the leaders of Ofcom are incentivised to show that they are applying their new powers.
Conclusion… as of the 17th March 2025 I will not be involved in running anything that provides a UK oriented service. If I’m involved at all, it will be as hands-off as possible and to advise a foreign based service providing to non-UK users how to do the technical stuff."
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Mentioned in the Torygraph (archive link so you don’t give them any traffic)
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Our content is definitely not illegal and harmful. The closest we get to that is a snuck photo of a low level celebrity dog walker…
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….or Herbie Hancock growling on thé 24 bus.
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Related note I remember my Dad, a volunteer church treasurer, ringing me once when GDPR came in.
Asking how he needs to be compliant - while my clients like Unilever and Coca-Cola were saying they wouldn’t be rushing and would likely ignore the rule for a couple of years…
shakes fist at clouds
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And the tech house thread
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Ooft 
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I was going to site that particular post as spreading misinformation
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Site taken down because of middle aged people talking about how the music/scene/drugs/knees aren’t what they used to be 
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Just don’t get too big, as I think 3 million UK users is the minimum before the bill applies to a site, unless it hosts harmful content. Host sites like Microcosm only have 250k users so I’m not sure they’ve read the detail. The bill is designed to pull the social media big boys into line…good luck with that.
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I know the person running it is all about the detail. If they’re calling time it’s with very good reason
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Yes, he must have good reason to pull a successful site and the user-to-user nature of it could put it in-scope eventually, altho nothing I’ve read suggests so at that size and content, but the consequences of the bill must be greater than I think. Shite if so.
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Maybe the “E’s ain’t what they used to be” thread…? 
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Fuck 'em, if they come after TP we’ll revolt 
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Are we not a Californian site now though? 
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Lol 
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