Front Burner Can the UK child-proof the internet?
Jul 31, 2025
Samantha Cole, a journalist with 404 Media, dives into the UK's new Online Safety Act aimed at shielding children from harmful content. She discusses the tricky balance between child safety and civil liberties, highlighting concerns over privacy and censorship. Cole shares insights from her coverage of similar U.S. measures and the challenges of age verification online. Moreover, she emphasizes the need for better education and tools for parents and children, rather than relying solely on automated systems to keep kids safe from the internet's darker corners.
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UK's Online Safety Act Goals
- The UK Online Safety Act aims to shield children from harmful content like violence, hate, self-harm, and adult material online.
- Its scope includes age verification and algorithm changes to prevent exposure to inappropriate content.
Controversy Complexity on Child Safety
- Laws aimed at protecting children online often pass easily because of broad agreement on keeping kids safe.
- However, criticism is hard as opponents risk being portrayed as supporting harmful content to children.
Workarounds to Age Verification
- People use VPNs to bypass UK age verification, spoofing their location to access content.
- Some even use game character selfies to fool biometric age checks, showing flaws in current verification methods.