Wikipedia's owner challenges categorization rules under UK's Online Safety Act

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Wikipedia's owner challenges categorization rules under UK's Online Safety Act
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Andre Revilla is an entrepreneur and writer based in Chicago, IL. He has been covering and working in the consumer tech space for over a decade. Along with Engadget, he has contributed to Digital Trends, XDA, Pocket-lint, and a number of other news and tech sites since 2010.

The law aims to protect users from harmful online content by imposing restrictions and fines on large internet platforms such as social media companies . While the law was originally passed in 2023, enforcement and categorization of companies subject to the law are only The law sorts online platforms into categories that are then met with varying levels of restrictions and enforcement.

. Wikimedia is specifically challenging the “categorisation regulations” under the law, arguing that Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, is using a flawed and vague system of metrics to judge what category a platform falls into., metrics like number of UK users and the ability to forward or share content make it more likely that Wikipedia would be considered a higher-risk “Category 1” platform. This would put Wikipedia in the same bucket as Facebook, X, YouTube and other enormous social platforms.that the foundation had been working with UK regulators for years in an attempt to clarify the rules in a manner the foundation felt would be more fair. Platforms that are recognized as Category 1 are held to more stringent requirements governing how quickly they remove harmful content,, preventing cyberbullying and more. The Wikimedia Foundation is arguing that Wikipedia should not be lumped into Category 1, as it is a nonprofit, ad-free and mostly volunteer-operated service., the Wikimedia Foundation lays out its concerns, saying that these restrictions “would be a substantial challenge to our resources to meet the strict reporting and compliance obligations,” and that the fines threatened by Category 1 classification could lead to “disempowering users who wish to keep their identity private.”that they ultimately support regulations that could improve online safety. “Given that the OSA intends to make the UK a safer place to be online,"Bradley-Schmieg wrote "it is particularly unfortunate that we must now defend the privacy and safety of Wikipedia’s volunteer editors from flawed legislation.”

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