A short and not-so-sweet letter about the Online Safety Act

Recently, we saw the first effects of the Online Safety Act, which not only restricts our access to certain content, but asks us to compromise our identities, and gives the UK government the power to regulate what we can say, read our private communications, and more. Despite the massive backlash regarding these unacceptable implications, the government's response to a popular petition was disappointingly apathetic. As a result, the next step would be to write to your MP, urging them to move for the Act's immediate repeal. See below a template - feel free to modify it or send it as-is.

Dear MP,

I am writing to you today to express opposition to and concern for the Online Safety Act and the government's response to the backlash regarding it. While the Act's proclaimed goals of promoting child safety and combating misinformation are admirable, the implications for privacy and civil liberties are unacceptable.

Forcing users to disclose their identities to third parties in order to access content creates incentive for these identity verification providers to sell users' sensitive data without their informed consent, and creates honeypots for bad actors to target. This will drive up cases of fraud and identity theft, as well as enable stalking and harassment.

Affording the government the ability to demand removal of content online risks abuse in the form of silencing dissenting opinions. Even if the current government is trusted to use this power responsibly, it is impossible to say with any certainty that future powers will not abuse it.

The ability to force client-side scanning on devices is a profound encroachment on our most basic freedoms. Government access what users believe to be completely private communications, especially circumventing zero-access end-to-end encryption, is an unprecedented breach of privacy. The ability to view such communications enables the system to use privileged communications for such unsavoury practices as retaliation against dissenting opinions or interference in official matters, and risks such fundamental liberties as freedom of press and free speech in private spaces. It also creates yet another honeypot for bad actors, and enables misuse by authorised individuals for purposes such as stalking and blackmail.

Invaluable online educational resources and cultural archives are already threatened by the Act. Many will block access to UK users or de-list content entirely, due to an inability to verify users according to the new standards or for fear of ruinous fines. Allowing enforcement of the Act to continue risks further depriving UK citizens of access to valuable content which can offer immeasurable enrichment to one's life.

Overall, it is clear that the Act was passed with either negligence or hostility towards some of the most basic liberties enjoyed by UK citizens, without appropriate consideration for historic failures of similar laws, or for input from privacy and data experts or civil rights groups, many of whom continue to criticise its effects.

Beyond the implementation of the Actwsl, the government's response to the public backlash against it has been alarmingly apathetic. Their response to petition 722903, which received over 300,000 signatures in just 3 days, demonstrates a complete disregard for the people's wishes, and signals that the government does not represent our interests.

The Online Safety Act is already an unacceptable attack on our rights and freedoms, and it seems to be only the first step on the road to an Orwellian future for the UK, in which speech and access to information are heavily regulated by an authoritarian and technocratic government on par with those of Russia, China, and Iran. I urge you to publicly denounce the Act, move for its immediate repeal, and oppose similarly oppressive acts in the future.