Ofcom risks installing a production line of political censorship under the UK Online Safety Act.

One that will knock dissent off our feeds in real time under a vague and unpredictable system.

Tell Ofcom to defend online protest! Reply by 20 October ⏰

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/online-safety-act-consultation-threat-protest-and-political-content

#onlinesafetyact #osa #onlinesafety #censorship #freespeech #protest #freedomofexpression #ukpolitics #ukpol

Political content could also get digitally kettled under Ofcom's proposals (UK):

🔴 Deprioritise posts flagged as potentially 'illegal' from algorithmic feeds until reviewed.

🔴 New police powers to restrict the sharing of content during a 'crisis' that could be misused on protests.

#onlinesafetyact #osa #onlinesafety #censorship #freespeech #protest #freedomofexpression #ukpolitics #ukpol

Livestreaming and social media are essential for activism.

From the Hong Kong protests to Black Lives Matter, social media has provided real-time coverage to challenge official narratives and inform public debate.

Protest crackdowns must not be mirrored in content takedowns.

#onlinesafetyact #osa #onlinesafety #censorship #freespeech #protest #freedomofexpression #ukpolitics #ukpol

Proactive scanning will go further and faster at silencing dissent.

Under the UK's broad definition of terrorism, automated filters will have to scan for ‘damage to property' and remove such posts as 'illegal' content.

So this flawed system will impact environmental activism.

#onlinesafetyact #osa #onlinesafety #censorship #freespeech #protest #freedomofexpression #ukpolitics #ukpol

Activists will feel the brunt of censorship.

The ban on Palestine Action has been used to justify the arrests of people protesting the war in Gaza or the ban itself.

Similarly, posts relating to Palestine could be censored as 'terrorist' content under Ofcom's (UK) proposals.

#onlinesafetyact #osa #onlinesafety #censorship #freespeech #protest #freedomofexpression #ukpolitics #ukpol

Ofcom (UK) wants to scan and scrub ‘illegal’ content from social media.

It’ll be for platforms to decide how this will be automated, leaving us clueless about what will get removed.

As algorithms are dumb to context or nuance, legal speech will get swept up in the auto-purge.

#onlinesafetyact #osa #onlinesafety #censorship #freespeech #protest #freedomofexpression #ukpolitics #ukpol

Ofcom risks installing a production line of political censorship under the UK Online Safety Act.

One that will knock dissent off our feeds in real time under a vague and unpredictable system.

Tell Ofcom to defend online protest! Reply by 20 October ⏰

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/online-safety-act-consultation-threat-protest-and-political-content

#onlinesafetyact #osa #onlinesafety #censorship #freespeech #protest #freedomofexpression #ukpolitics #ukpol