EFF Senior Speech and Privacy Activist Paige Collings has been fighting for encryption, the right to privacy, and ending internet censorship in the UK and EU since 2016. For the past few years, her attention has focused on the UK Online Safety Bill (OSB), a 260+ page legislative behemoth that threatens free expression as well as the digital privacy and security of not just UK residents but internet users worldwide.
Despite the efforts of a broad coalition of digital and human rights groups across the UK and EU, on September 19, 2023, the Online Safety Bill passed out of Parliament and will become law once it receives Royal Assent. As enacted, the OSB would effectively make end-to-end encryption illegal in the UK by installing government-mandated censorship and age controls across many internet platforms.
However, this is not the end of the story. EFF and a broad coalition of digital and human rights organizations, as well as messaging services, are hard at work strategizing what needs to happen next to stop or reduce the harm of the OSB’s more drastic provisions. And with serious regulatory and litigation options on the table, the fight to protect the privacy, security and free expression of UK internet users is certainly far from over.
We hope you enjoy Insider Briefing #10 with Paige as she provides a background on the origins of the bill and how it has changed over the past 6 years, a look into what it was like behind the scenes in the weeks leading up to the passage of the bill, and what our coalition is planning to ensure the UK continues to have a free and open internet.
[1] Today The UK Parliament Undermined The Privacy, Security, And Freedom Of All Internet Users
[2] The U.K. Government Is Very Close To Eroding Encryption Worldwide
[3] UK Online Safety Bill Will Mandate Dangerous Age Verification for Much of the Web
