New rules under the UK's Online Safety Act require online services to assess and prevent children from accessing harmful content. These regulations mandate changes in algorithms and moderation systems to filter out such content. While aimed at child safety, age verification tools pose risks to privacy and freedom of expression for all users. The legislation has faced criticism for its potential negative impact on rights, as experts warn that age verification could introduce more harm than protection for children.
Mandatory age verification tools are surveillance systems that threaten everyone's rights to speech and privacy. To confirm ages, online services may ask for government-issued documentation or use biometric data.
The approach that UK politicians have taken with the Online Safety Act is reckless, short-sighted, and will introduce more harm to the children that it is trying to protect.
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