A proposed set of new UK laws would appoint Ofcom as censor of all digital communications in the country. Not everyone thinks that’s such a great idea.
June 23, 2021
A proposed set of new UK laws would appoint Ofcom as censor of all digital communications in the country. Not everyone thinks that’s such a great idea.
The Online Safety Bill is the product of the UK government’s ‘commitment to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online while defending free expression.’ Safety and freedom eh? Sounds like a win-win, doesn’t it? But a bunch of people who make it their business to defend free expression are unconvinced.
MP David Davis (one of the few principled politicians in the UK), Index on Censorship Chief Exec Ruth Smeeth, and Gavin Millar QC are among the founders of a campaign called ‘Legal to Say. Legal to Type’. As the name implies, they view this bill as a bid to effectively criminalise legal speech when it takes place in the digital sphere.