I wrote an Op-Ed for The New Statesman published in November 2023. 

I am sharing the opening paragraphs here. The full article can be accessed  via this link. 

The Online Safety Bill will make life harder for victims

In seeking to address harms to children, the Online Safety Bill proposes remedies that will create new harms. Internet services used every day by British consumers would be obligated to scan all public posts and private chats against government-specified criteria. It’s a serious interference with free speech and privacy rights.

If these services don’t want to do it, they could pack up and leave the UK. If they do comply, it would open the floodgates to scanning requests from governments seeking to undermine democratic debate around the world. Who then would be the loser?

Internet companies will be required by the government to police social media posts for criminal offences across 11 areas of law. These offences include assisting illegal immigration and public order offences, as well as terrorism and child sexual abuse material. It is not clear why public order and immigration offences are in a bill to protect children. [...] 

To read the full article, please use the link above.