The UK Online Safety Act – will it work?

14th August 2025

Despite good intentions, there are some who doubt the Act will work: is it truly possible to be safe online?

We explained in one of our recent articles what the UK Online Safety Act enforced from July of 2025 involves, but since it has been released it has been met with controversy. Is it a good idea? Will it work? Or do the negatives outweigh the positives? Look at the points below and decide for yourself:

For

Protects children – if the Act is adhered to it should reduce the number of children seeing harmful or explicit content. Few can argue that this isn’t a positive thing and something worth supporting.

Holds platforms accountable – legal duties are placed on tech companies to implement safety measures, with risk assessments, content moderation and user reporting tools required. This means everyone is working together, instead of users and companies having different goals.

Enforceable penalties – with fines up to £18 million, or 10% of global revenue, the legislation has real consequences if it isn’t met. Fear of punishment is a good motivator to ensure the act works.

Transparency – platforms must publish reports and give users more filter controls for content. This empowers users and increases trust in digital services.

Against

Threat to encryption – apps like WhatsApp have warned that the Act may force them to scan private messages, resulting in reduced data privacy. This sets a dangerous precedent for surveillance and could lead to backdoor security vulnerabilities.

Vague and complex – the Act is long and difficult to digest, with many unclear on what exactly constitutes “harmful” content. It could result in over-censorship or inconsistent enforcement, leading to bigger problems of injustice down the line.

Free speech – the Act, some argue, may inhibit lawful expression, particularly around controversial or sensitive topics. Sometimes, being informed on those topics and discussing them is important, and preventing people from doing so can be seen as a form of censorship and control by the UK government.

Technical/financial burden – smaller platforms may struggle to keep up with these new demands, as many features will require a lot of work to implement. Some may leave the UK market rather than comply, which creates a lack of digital diversity.

Workarounds – nowadays, there are so many ways to get around restrictions like this. Fake or borrowed credentials, VPNs or proxy sites can all be used to avoid the restrictions. There is even the risk that people will be drawn to illegal sites to access restricted content.

Ultimately, if it will work or not depends on how the Act is enforced. The right balance needs to be found between privacy and security, safety and freedom of expression. Make the rules too strict and you risk outcry from those claiming they are being censored; not strict enough and children are exposed to dangerous content before they are mature enough to deal with it.

Rather than just blocking adult content, perhaps educating young people on what it is, why it exists and what to do if they see it is better than banning it altogether. If they want to get to it there will always be methods to do so, and they will always be curious as to what is out there. But if they’ve been taught what to expect, and how to process it, then it might not be as damaging as it could be otherwise.

If you have any thoughts on this debate, please contact Interfuture Systems – we’d be interested to know what you think.

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