Can we have a "San Francisco Tea Party" telling the UK government that
Wikimedia projects would rather block access to the United Kingdom
than comply with their misguided requirements?
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: <fputz(a)wikimedia.org>
> Date: Mon, May 15, 2023, 2:56 AM
> Subject: [Publicpolicy] How the UK Online Safety Bill might impact Wikimedia
> To: <publicpolicy(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
>
>
> Dear all,
>
> Some of you may be following the developments of the UK Online Safety Bill, others
may have heard of it a year ago and ignored it since. Wherever you fall on the spectrum,
you may be interested in a new blog post titled "Good intentions, bad effects:
Wikimedia projects and the UK’s draft Online Safety Bill." [1]
>
> In this piece, Lucy Crompton-Reid, Chief Executive of Wikimedia UK, and Phil
Bradley-Schmieg, Lead Counsel at the Wikimedia Foundation, detail how elements of the bill
may require significant changes to how Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects operate.
Particular attention is given to the proposed “under-18 exclusion” rule since it has been
the subject of a number of UK headlines.
>
> If you are interested in the actions that Wikimedia UK and the Foundation have taken
related to the OSB, I recommend that you read Lucy's e-mail to the Wikimedia UK
mailing list from April 23, 2023 [2]. I have copied her message below the line and links
of this email. You can learn more about the UK OSB by reading our 'deep dive' from
November 2022 [3] or 'early impressions' post from March 2022 [4].
>
> Phil and Lucy are both members of this mailing list. Your feedback is welcome;
we're always keen to learn from others on this mailing list, answer questions, and to
discuss how best to protect the free knowledge movement in the midst of national
legislative developments.
>
> Enjoy the read!
>
> Ziski
> - - -
> [1]
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/11/good-intentions-bad-effects-wikimedia…
> [2]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikimediauk-l.lists.wikimedia.o…
> [3]
https://medium.com/wikimedia-policy/deep-dive-the-united-kingdoms-online-sa…
> [4]
https://medium.com/wikimedia-policy/early-impressions-of-the-uk-online-safe…
> _________________________________________________
>
> Lucy Crompton-Reid via
lists.wikimedia.org
> Apr 23, 2023, 10:24 AM
> to UK
>
> Dear all
>
> As I know many of you will be aware, the long heralded Online Safety Bill is now
making its way through Parliament and is currently at the Committee stage in the House of
Lords. The Bill will establish a new regulatory framework for online services, with Ofcom
becoming the regulator. As it currently stands, the requirements of the Bill in terms of
content moderation, age gating and user verification are incompatible with Wikipedia’s
model, and the Wikimedia Foundation has stated that they will not be age gating the
platform.
>
> Wikimedia UK has been highlighting concerns about the proposed new legislation since
the Online Harms White Paper, published four years ago. We have responded to various
consultations, run by Ofcom as well as the government, and met with staff from both. One
of the key issues highlighted by Wikimedia UK and the Wikimedia Foundation - as well as
many organisations in the civil society sector - was the requirement to remove content
that was “legal but harmful”. This was fortunately dropped from the Bill as it moved
through the House of Commons at the end of last year. However, there remains much cause
for concern.
>
> Working closely with the Wikimedia Foundation, I have been in touch with a number of
peers (members of the House of Lords) over the past few months to highlight the unintended
consequences of the proposed legislation on Wikimedia, and to advocate for changes to the
Bill to protect our movement and safeguard open knowledge. The Lord Moylan has tabled a
series of amendments on our behalf which address some of these issues, including a
proposed exemption for small, community moderated and/or public benefit websites that are
currently within the scope of the Bill. It’s likely that these amendments will be debated
in the House of Lords on Tuesday or Thursday next week. Today, I will be sending a written
briefing (attached for your information) urging support for these amendments to a target
list of peers, and Jimmy will be giving an in person briefing at Parliament on Monday.
>
> We are envisaging further advocacy activities before and during the Report Stage in
the House of Lords, which is when amendments that have made it to that point will be voted
on. If you are interested in supporting these advocacy efforts, please let me know.
>
> All best
>
> Lucy
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