Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that allows anyone to edit articles, has stated that it will not perform age checks on UK readers or contributors to comply with the proposed Online Safety Bill. The bill aims to protect users from harmful or illegal content and requires tech companies to have systems in place to prevent children from accessing such content. Neil Brown, a solicitor who specializes in internet and telecoms law, says that under the bill, services likely to be accessed by children must have “proportionate systems and processes” designed to prevent them from encountering harmful content. This could include age verification.
The Wikimedia Foundation, which supports Wikipedia, argues that age checks would “violate our commitment to collect minimal data about readers and contributors”. The foundation also argues that implementing age checks would require a “drastic overhaul” of its technical systems. Lucy Crompton-Reid, CEO of Wikimedia UK, warns that some content on the site could trigger age verification, such as educational text and images about sexuality that could be misinterpreted as pornography.
However, the decision not to implement age checks could have consequences for the site. The UK government has said that only services posing the highest risk to children will need age verification, but it is unclear whether Wikipedia would fall into that category. Wikimedia UK fears that the site could be blocked if it does not comply with the bill, potentially resulting in large fines, criminal sanctions for senior staff, or restricted access to the service in the UK.
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