The Online Safety Act is having a ‘catastrophic’ impact on free speech after people were blocked from viewing videos of asylum seeker hotel protests, campaigners have warned.
Users of X – formerly Twitter – complained they were unable to view clips of police detaining activists in the UK, with messages on-screen saying it was ‘due to local laws’.
X even barred users from watching a powerful speech about grooming gangs which Conservative MP Katie Lam made to Parliament earlier this year.
Since last Friday, websites have been required to check users are aged over 18 before letting them access potentially ‘harmful’ material such as pornography or face being fined up to £18million.
But critics including US Vice-President JD Vance have said legislation introduced by the Tories in 2023 could be used to attack free speech.
After a demonstration outside the Britannia Hotel in Leeds on Friday, X users said it blocked arrest footage. They were shown the message: ‘Due to local laws, we are temporarily restricting access to this content until X estimates your age.’
Following a row over Essex Police allegedly escorting counter-protesters to a demonstration in Epping, West Yorkshire Police stressed it was not involved in censoring posts.
X has not commented but its AI chatbot Grok suggested the Leeds clip was restricted under the Online Safety Act due to violent conduct.
As X does not have an age verification process, for many, access to posts defaulted to ‘restricted’ mode.
Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf last night branded the Online Safety Act ‘the biggest ever assault on free speech in the UK’.
‘This Tory monstrosity hands unelected bureaucrats sweeping powers to censor content they disapprove of,’ he told the Mail.
Madeleine Stone, senior advocacy officer at Big Brother Watch, warned of a ‘catastrophic effect on free speech online’ with ‘intrusive new age checks to access a range of websites’.
A government spokesman said: ‘Free speech is fundamental to our democracy and we’ve taken robust action to protect it, including through the Online Safety Act.’