Wikipedia Operators Lose In Lawsuit Against UK Online Security Act Regulations
JAKARTA - Wikipedia operator, Wikimedia Foundation, on Monday 11 August lost to a lawsuit at the London High Court over part of the UK's Online Safety Act. The law establishes strict requirements for online platforms in the UK and has been criticized for potentially limiting free speech.
The Wikimedia Foundation is suing regulations in the law, which they say could impose mandatory Category 1's strictest category' on Wikipedia. If implemented, this obligation would require user identity verification and Wikipedia contributors, which could force the platform to drastically reduce the number of users in the UK who can access the site.
Judge Jeremy Johnson rejected the lawsuit on Monday, but stated that the Wikimedia Foundation could file a further lawsuit if the Ofcom regulator illegally concluded that Wikipedia was included in Category 1 service. He added that his ruling "does not give the green light to Ofcom and the Minister to implement a regime that would significantly disrupt Wikipedia's operations."
The Wikimedia Foundation stated that this ruling "does not provide the direct legal protection for Wikipedia as we expected," but welcomes a court statement emphasizing the responsibility of Ofcom and the UK government to ensure protection for Wikipedia.
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The UK Department of Science, Innovation and Technology has not yet responded to a request for comment. Ofcom said it would "continue to advance our work on categorized services."
The Online Security Act, passed in 2023 and implemented this year, was previously also criticized by social media platform X, which mentions the need for significant changes to the law. Activists of free speech and content creators have complained that the rule was too broad, causing content censorship to actually be legal.
The UK government stated that the law was designed to protect children and remove illegal content. Technology Minister Peter Kyle said those wishing to revoke the law "participating in predators."