4 ms·

it's not that simple - illegal and harmful content can include things like hate speech - worth a longer read... https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/14/online_sa

it's not that simple - illegal and harmful content can include things like hate speech - worth a longer read... https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/14/online_safety_act/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/14/online_safety_act/ If I ran a small forum in the UK I would shut it down - not worth risk of jail time for getting it wrong.

guax 2y ago
The good thing about forums is their moderation. It seems like mostly what the law covers is already enforced by most forums anyways.
- Tuna-Fish 2y ago
  A forum that merely has good moderation is not automatically compliant with the act. It requires not just doing things, but paperwork that shows that you are doing things. The effort to do this well enough to be sure you will be in compliance is far beyond what is reasonable to ask of hobbyists.
docflabby 2y ago
The new rules cover any kind of illegal content that can appear online, but the Act includes a list of specific offences that you should consider. These are: terrorism child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) offences, including grooming image-based child sexual abuse material (CSAM) CSAM URLs hate harassment, stalking, threats and abuse controlling or coercive behaviour intimate image abuse extreme pornography sexual exploitation of adults human trafficking unlawful immigration fraud and financial offences proceeds of crime drugs and psychoactive substances firearms, knives and other weapons encouraging or assisting suicide foreign interference animal cruelty
- sepositus 2y ago
  > hate Is it really just listed as one word? What's the legal definition of hate?
  - tene80i 2y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_the_United...
    - sepositus 2y ago
      Thanks. > Something is a hate incident if the victim or anyone else think it was motivated by hostility or prejudice based on: disability, race, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation. This probably worries platforms that need to moderate content. Sure, perhaps 80% of the cases are clear cut, but it’s the 20% that get missed and turn into criminal liability that would be the most concerning. Not to mention a post from one year ago can become criminal if someone suddenly decides it was motivated by one of these factors. Further, prejudices in terms of language do change often. As bad actors get censored based on certain language, they will evolve to use other words/phrases to mean the same thing. The government is far more likely to be aware of these (and be able to prosecute them) than some random forum owner.
      - sapphicsnail 2y ago
        Just want to add that I couldn't find any references to gender identity in the linked Wikipedia article as well as the article on hate incidents in the UK.
      - IanCal 2y ago
        It's important to understand that the act we're talking about does not make owners simply liable for stuff that happens on their sites, nor does it require them to stop everything. It's about what the risks are of these things happening, and what you do about that. In fact, if you have had a place that people can report abuse and it's just not really happening much then you can say you're low risk for that. That's in some of the examples. > Not to mention a post from one year ago can become criminal if someone suddenly decides it was motivated by one of these factors. That would impact the poster, not the site.
  - CamperBob2 2y ago
- Winblows11 2y ago
  From that list I don't see HN being affected, although I read somewhere that a report button on user generated content was required to comply for smaller sites.
  - IanCal 2y ago
    I think it's hard to make the case for anything other than a pretty tiny group or organisation that that you can get away without having some reporting and moderation process. I don't think you need a report button but a known way of reporting things by your users is likely going to be required if you have a load of user generated stuff that's not moderated by default.
- ekianjo 2y ago
  > hate which is an umbrella term for everything that the government does not like right now, and does not mind jailing you for. In other words, it's their way to kill the freedom of expression.
nsteel 2y ago
I might be falling for what I've read second-hand but isn't one of the issues that it doesn't matter where the forum is based, if you've got significant UK users it can apply to your forum hosted wherever. You've got to block UK users.
DecentShoes 2y ago
[flagged]
- sapphicsnail 2y ago
  There are openly transphobic MPs and as far as I know there aren't any laws criminalizing transphobic hate speech. What more do you want?
  - throwaway48476 2y ago
    It would be nice if parliamentary privilege applied to everyone.

guax 2y ago

The good thing about forums is their moderation. It seems like mostly what the law covers is already enforced by most forums anyways.

Tuna-Fish 2y ago
A forum that merely has good moderation is not automatically compliant with the act. It requires not just doing things, but paperwork that shows that you are doing things. The effort to do this well enough to be sure you will be in compliance is far beyond what is reasonable to ask of hobbyists.

docflabby 2y ago

The new rules cover any kind of illegal content that can appear online, but the Act includes a list of specific offences that you should consider. These are: terrorism child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) offences, including grooming image-based child sexual abuse material (CSAM) CSAM URLs hate harassment, stalking, threats and abuse controlling or coercive behaviour intimate image abuse extreme pornography sexual exploitation of adults human trafficking unlawful immigration fraud and financial offences proceeds of crime drugs and psychoactive substances firearms, knives and other weapons encouraging or assisting suicide foreign interference animal cruelty

sepositus 2y ago
> hate Is it really just listed as one word? What's the legal definition of hate?
- tene80i 2y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_the_United...
  - sepositus 2y ago
    Thanks. > Something is a hate incident if the victim or anyone else think it was motivated by hostility or prejudice based on: disability, race, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation. This probably worries platforms that need to moderate content. Sure, perhaps 80% of the cases are clear cut, but it’s the 20% that get missed and turn into criminal liability that would be the most concerning. Not to mention a post from one year ago can become criminal if someone suddenly decides it was motivated by one of these factors. Further, prejudices in terms of language do change often. As bad actors get censored based on certain language, they will evolve to use other words/phrases to mean the same thing. The government is far more likely to be aware of these (and be able to prosecute them) than some random forum owner.
    - sapphicsnail 2y ago
      Just want to add that I couldn't find any references to gender identity in the linked Wikipedia article as well as the article on hate incidents in the UK.
    - IanCal 2y ago
      It's important to understand that the act we're talking about does not make owners simply liable for stuff that happens on their sites, nor does it require them to stop everything. It's about what the risks are of these things happening, and what you do about that. In fact, if you have had a place that people can report abuse and it's just not really happening much then you can say you're low risk for that. That's in some of the examples. > Not to mention a post from one year ago can become criminal if someone suddenly decides it was motivated by one of these factors. That would impact the poster, not the site.
- CamperBob2 2y ago
Winblows11 2y ago
From that list I don't see HN being affected, although I read somewhere that a report button on user generated content was required to comply for smaller sites.
- IanCal 2y ago
  I think it's hard to make the case for anything other than a pretty tiny group or organisation that that you can get away without having some reporting and moderation process. I don't think you need a report button but a known way of reporting things by your users is likely going to be required if you have a load of user generated stuff that's not moderated by default.
ekianjo 2y ago
> hate which is an umbrella term for everything that the government does not like right now, and does not mind jailing you for. In other words, it's their way to kill the freedom of expression.

nsteel 2y ago

I might be falling for what I've read second-hand but isn't one of the issues that it doesn't matter where the forum is based, if you've got significant UK users it can apply to your forum hosted wherever. You've got to block UK users.

DecentShoes 2y ago

[flagged]

sapphicsnail 2y ago
There are openly transphobic MPs and as far as I know there aren't any laws criminalizing transphobic hate speech. What more do you want?
- throwaway48476 2y ago
  It would be nice if parliamentary privilege applied to everyone.