Summary

The UK Parliament has passed the Online Safety Bill (OSB), claiming it will enhance online safety but actually leading to increased censorship and surveillance. The bill grants the government the authority to compel tech companies to scan all user data, including encrypted messages, to detect child abuse content, effectively creating a backdoor. This jeopardizes privacy and security for everyone. The bill also mandates the removal of content deemed inappropriate for children, potentially resulting in politicized censorship decisions. Age-verification systems may infringe on anonymity and free speech. The implications of how these powers will be used are a cause for concern, with the possibility that encrypted services may withdraw from the UK if their users' security is compromised.

  • simple@lemm.ee
    ·
    1 year ago

    This would affect even messages and files that are end-to-end encrypted to protect user privacy.

    But how would they even enforce that? It's E2E, and I doubt anyone would add backdoors to every app, website, and service that uses it.

    • Godort@lemm.ee
      ·
      1 year ago

      I suspect that the UK will just say "either you add the backdoor or you don't operate here"

      Which from a cynical perspective is just an easy check for hackers to see if a particular target is vulnerable by seeing if they're allowed to operate in the UK