Later this month, Clean Up The Internet will be seeing Ofcom in court over its refusal to disclose basic information about its dealings with tech companies.
Our founder @stephenstroud.bsky.social explains the background to the case and why it matters
www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/post/ofcom-l...
Clean Up The Internet's founder @stephenstroud.bsky.social shares thoughts on recent developments in the EU, including a fine for X over its deceptive monetised blue ticks, and potential measures to tackle fake accounts in the Democracy Shield initiative
www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/post/eu-comm...
New polling commissioned by @cleanuptheinternet.org.uk from @opiniumresearch.bsky.social ahead of today's debate on the #onlinesafetyact:
✅ 70% are supportive of the OSA
✅ 49% think its implementation is too slow
✅Support consistent across political parties
www.onlinesafetyact.net/analysis/new...
"If Ofcom doesn’t give platforms clear enough guidance, there’s every risk of UK users encountering social media verification systems which don’t accept common forms of ID (e.g the Britcard), or require them to hand over excessive data"
www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/post/what-co...
"Ofcom's Guidance on user identity verification should be seen as an acid-test of whether it's going to do its bit to deliver the government’s crime reduction ambitions"
Clean Up The Internet's founder @stephenstroud.bsky.social
www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/post/reducin...
Former Met Police Superintendent, Dal Babu #C4News
"We're missing the key issue: how do we regulate social media, who are responsible for spreading a lot of the hate crime, the misinformation, the far right accounts, that we saw in Southport"
"Ofcom's Guidance on user identity verification should be seen as an acid-test of whether it's going to do its bit to deliver the government’s crime reduction ambitions"
Clean Up The Internet's founder @stephenstroud.bsky.social
www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/post/reducin...
"It’s not pragmatic to see something as “a price worth paying” unless you’re clear what the price is. And watering down the UK’s recently enacted online safety laws has the potential to be very expensive indeed."
@stephenstroud.bsky.social
www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/post/us-uk-t...
This is just too important to get wrong.
“The government’s own figures show that the cost of unsafe social media is over £30bn per year. Watering down online safety bills would mean the UK continues to have to pay billions to clear up the mess caused by the US companies, and that’s not a good deal for us to strike.”
“But it also just doesn’t make any kind of economic sense. Right now we are all footing a huge bill for unsafe social media sites, for example in money lost to fraud, or in taxpayers’ money to deal with the fallout of the damage to mental health.
“Watering down online safety rules to get a trade deal with Trump would be a huge mistake. Rules to keep our children safe, and to protect our society from hate and extremism, simply shouldn’t be up for negotiation." - our founder, @stephenstroud.bsky.social
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
To put this in perspective, last year OnlyFans reported global revenue of $1.3billion and pre-tax profits of $658m. So this fine represents a 0.2% hit.
www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...
LBC are having an online safety day.
This is something that has been part of my professional life to various extents for over 17 years.
They have touched on algorithms and showing in appropriate content to young people.
For the platforms, that content IS a choice.
1/2
As the UK Parliament's Science, Innovation and Technology Committee continues its Inquiry into Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms, here's a link to the evidence we submitted, which has been published on the committee website: www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/post/our-sub...
⏰ Starting at 930am. Watch it here: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/... #onlinesafetyact
I did know that this kind of thing was possible. But it’s pretty worrisome just how easy it is now.
Jim is being responsible but others won’t be. I think @cleanuptheinternet.org.uk are right. We need “verified human” account labels
Some good articles in this week's Economist on the scale, sophistication, and general awfulness of the online scamming industry - including useful detail on how fake social media accounts are one of their key tools.
The UK's Online Safety Act designates fraud as a priority offence. Yet in its wisdom, @ofcom.bsky.social has decided not to include any user verification measures in its Illegal Content Codes of Practice - a huge missed opportunity to protect UK users from scams (and many other crimes).
Offering users verification, and making it easier for them to identify and avoid non-verified accounts, would help disrupt scammers' industrial scale "pig-butchering" operations, as we set out here: www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/post/new-rep...
Some good articles in this week's Economist on the scale, sophistication, and general awfulness of the online scamming industry - including useful detail on how fake social media accounts are one of their key tools.
Chris articulates the question that so many of us have been asking for some time now.
@cleanuptheinternet.org.uk
@andyburrows.bsky.social
"Sorting out social media is one of the urgent challenges of our age, and plodding regulatory conservatism isn’t good enough."
Spot on from @chrisblackhurst.bsky.social in the @the-independent.com
www.independent.co.uk/news/busines...
We have a serious problem with the pace and vigour of enforcement of laws brought in supposedly to create "the safest online environment in the world". Our MPs must be astonished at how little fruit their legislative efforts are bearing.
@cleanuptheinternet.org.uk
@lukecharters.bsky.social
This is a great upsum of why civil society is so concerned about Ofcom’s flawed application of the #OnlineSafetyAct
2) What we are arguing here is that given Ofcom has identified fake and anonymous accounts as a "key" risk factor for multiple illegal harms, it should be recommending measures to mitigate the risks within the Illegal content codes, for platforms where it's a relevant risk (which would not be "all")
1) Our proposal is that relevant user-to-user sites be required to offer all users *optional* verification, combined with transparency as to who is and isn't verified and options for users to filter contact non-verified accounts. I.e. platforms are required to give users choices, not to force them
No, that's not what we're suggesting!
Clean Up The Internet's founder, @stephenstroud.bsky.social , sets out why Ofcom's Illegal Content Codes are extremely disappointing - and why it makes no sense to delay user verification measures to tackle risks from fake and anonymous accounts
www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/post/ofcom-p...
This needed to be said.
