The UK has always been a nanny state. After all we’re a member of the “Five Eyes” (If this is the first you’ve heard of it, look it up and fall down a rabbit hole for a while). GCHQ have been charged previously of mishandling the data of their bulk intercepted communications so this is no conspiracy. However up until now a privacy concerned individual has been able to take steps to preserve their online privacy, at least to a certain degree.
The Online Safety Act 2023 is the first step in destroying that possibility entirely and making any movements on the internet entirely traceable.
Under the guise of protecting children (SPOILER ALERT: This Act has nothing to do with protecting children and everything about surveillance) as of 27/07/2025 anything deemed to be “Adult” content must be be locked behind age verification. So far this has been through either a “selfie” to estimate your age (and be able to link you digitally to your online passport photo), or directly uploading scans of your photo ID.
The blocking pornography part of this is the part I’m least bothered by. Anyone with half a brain will have browsing their “adult entertainment” using a VPN for years now, and will have no problem continuing to do so. The part that really worries me for the future of the world is that this will be used to control access to information. Anything deemed “graphic” will be locked behind the ID verification, and the aim of this first stage will be to normalise sharing this information.
With the threat of “Digital ID” being thrown around as a “solution” to the migrant issue this will go hand in hand perfectly. Out of convenience, I’m sure if this ID system does come into effect you’ll be able to link it to your smartphone to automatically verify yourself anywhere it’s required. At that point your entire digital footprint will be directly linked to you as a person.
In theory you wouldn’t have an issue if you’re just shopping online, watching funny cat videos or looking up a recipe, but the problems may start to arise if your political views don’t align with the current government. Should you start looking for news sources different to the current preferred state propaganda your future might start looking less bright very quickly. In this digital dystopia you could be denied access to finance facilities, blacklisted for jobs, banned from places in person or online. We only need to look to China and the CCP to see just how authoritarian things can get if we let them.
What can you do then? Unfortunately not a lot. The time to act before the bill has passed, and the majority of people ignored any calls to action. The government played their games very cleverly with this one. Branding it as a bill to “protect the children” meant they could very easily demonize anyone who spoke out against it. All you can do now is at the next election vote for a party that promise to repeal the act.
Similar to the mass surveillance laws enacted post 9/11, watch out for Digital ID being pushed as the solution to illegal migrants. It won’t solve anything. Someone willing to hire someone who can’t legally work in the country won’t care if they have a digital ID or not. It’s just an excuse to push it through parliament. Do what you can to resist the authoritarian regimes and do not allow governments to encroach on your freedoms.
If we carry on the route we’re going, it won’t be long before I could be arrested for posting something like this.
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