The UK Online Safety Act comes into effect today.

Its onerous duties may cause many small sites, blogs and fedi instances to shut down or geoblock UK users when faced with potential fines and penalties.

This won't keep children safe. It'll benefit large platforms like Facebook and X that are laying waste to content moderation.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/14/online_safety_act/

Moderation tools I wish were available at the user level:

1) the ability to reject and remove unwelcome comments on my thread.

2) the ability to send a toot with comments closed entirely, not everything has to be a discussion/argument.

The UK Online Safety Act burdens small sites with duties and penalties that they can't shoulder. They'll shut down instead, stripping us of net plurality.

There’s a simple solution:

Exempt small, safely run blogs, forums and fedi instances
The government can do this now

The duties start TOMORROW – Write to your MP

#SaveOurSites

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/save-our-sites-write-your-mp

Saddling small sites with the same duties as huge platforms means many will shut down in a hammer blow to net plurality.

We'll be left with the Sophie’s choice of monopoly services; the incubators of online harms.

URGENT: The UK government must change the Online Safety Act to protect safe, non-commercial blogs, forums and fediverse.

Write to your MP to #SaveOurSites

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/save-our-sites-write-your-mp

Will the last small site turn off the lights?

The UK Online Safety Act imposes the same duties and penalties on blogs, forums and fedi instances as huge platforms.

Many small, safely moderated sites will shut down or block UK users.

Crushing competition is the last thing we need for a safer Internet!

Act now before 17 March

#SaveOurSites

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/save-our-sites-write-your-mp

The clock is running down to save encryption

Will you join over 750 people who've used our tool to reply to Ofcom's consultation on implementing message scanning powers in the UK?

Stop the attack on end-to-end encryption!

ACT NOW before the consultation closes at 5pm

#PracticeSafeText

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/48-hours-tell-ofcom-practice-safe-text

Carpe DM ?

End-to-end encryption = online safety. It keeps what we send on messaging apps secure from hackers and predators.

Tell Ofcom NOT to implement message scanning powers in their consultation.

You have until 5pm TODAY!

#PracticeSafeText

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/48-hours-tell-ofcom-practice-safe-text

Do you want hackers and predators to slide into your DMs?

That's what would happen if message scanning tech is forced onto messaging apps.

Ofcom's consultation on powers that'd break end-to-end encryption closes on Monday!

Use our tool to tell them #PracticeSafeText

#e2ee #encryption #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #ukpolitics #ukpol #cybersecurity #security #privacy #ofcom #whatsapp #signal

https://action.openrightsgroup.org/48-hours-tell-ofcom-practice-safe-text

Save Encryption. Save the World

Only by blocking message scanning technology on messaging apps can we ensure online safety!

End-to-end encryption prevents predators and hackers from weeding their way into our private lives.

We must #PracticeSafeText

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/the-case-for-encryption/

Small, low-risk sites should be out of scope so long as providers have a reasonable belief that children will not come across harmful material on them, say campaigners.

https://www.computing.co.uk/news/2025/legislation-regulation/call-to-exempt-small-sites-from-the-online-safety-act

Your password is your first line of defense against hackers! Learn how to create strong, unbreakable passwords & protect your online identity. Don’t be an easy target! #CyberSecurity #OnlineSafety #PasswordProtection

https://bdking71.wordpress.com/2025/03/04/unlocking-the-secrets-to-unbreakable-passwords-your-ultimate-guide-to-online-security/

Is it just me, or does the Online Safety Act seem a bit...pointless? Written text isn't considered "porn," so what's the deal? #onlinesafety #censorship

The Hacker News: WordPress Skimmers Evade Detection by Injecting Themselves into Database Tables. “Cybersecurity researchers are warning of a new stealthy credit card skimmer campaign that targets WordPress e-commerce checkout pages by inserting malicious JavaScript code into a database table associated with the content management system (CMS).”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/01/30/the-hacker-news-wordpress-skimmers-evade-detection-by-injecting-themselves-into-database-tables/

The main Fediverse platforms offer various protection tools: Mute and Block. For example, on Mastodon, the mute function can be set for a specific period of time. Mute means you won't see that person's posts, but you'll still be notified if they mention or tag you. A Block, on the other hand, means you don't want to see anything related to that person anymore. It's a much more radical action, useful if that person is disrupting your experience, offending you, or displaying any other serious behavior. In such cases, it’s important to file a report so administrators can take action and learn more about the user.

Sometimes I see advice to block immediately anyone posting content you don't want to see. In my opinion, if the content is simply not of interest to you, a mute is enough, while a block is more appropriate for people displaying clearly negative behavior.

Many platforms also offer filters: you can choose which words or hashtags you don't want to see and, accordingly, hide them. Filters can help personalize and improve your overall social experience.