Age verification for Wikipedia? Complaint in Great Britain rejected
In the UK, stricter requirements now apply to sites with user-generated content, such as age checks. A Wikipedia complaint was rejected.
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The UK Supreme Court has rejected an application by the Wikimedia Foundation against parts of the new Online Safety Act. According to the organization, the provisions could massively restrict the reach of the popular online encyclopedia, and central functions would have to be shut down. The High Court judge responsible did not agree. However, he made it clear that the government had “no green light” to implement the new rules in a way that would significantly hinder the operation of Wikipedia. However, it is still too early to judge. Moreover, none of the parties to the conflict have yet requested a review of whether these strict requirements apply to Wikipedia at all.
Better protection of minors in social networks
The background to the legal dispute is the provisions of the Online Safety Act, which aims to provide better protection for children and young people on the internet. To this end, online portals are assigned to categories that are associated with varying degrees of strictness. The Wikimedia Foundation is convinced that Wikipedia should be classified in category 1 based on the legal text, which is the highest category with the strictest requirements. In this case, however, the operation of the online encyclopaedia would have to be fundamentally changed, the organization claims. For example, the number of visitors to Wikipedia would have to be reduced by around three quarters. Central functions would also have to be deactivated, for example because content from verified and anonymous users cannot be separated.
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However, as long as Wikipedia has not yet been assigned a category, a court cannot rule on whether this classification is justified, the High Court has now declared. If the responsible media regulator Ofcom decides that Wikipedia does not belong to the highest category, “then there will be no further problems”. Otherwise, the Wikimedia Foundation would be open to a legal review. If a classification of Wikipedia based on the Online Safety Act means that Wikipedia can no longer be operated, the government could be obliged to consider an amendment to the Act or an exemption. However, this has not yet happened.
The Online Safety Act has been causing a stir in the UK for weeks. The Act obliges platforms with user-generated content to verify the age of visitors, which is why a wide variety of social networks have already announced age verification. Social media is also the actual target of the legislation; Wikipedia may have inadvertently found itself in the crosshairs, so to speak. “Wikipedia has come within the scope of the stricter regulations because of its size and the user-generated content there, although those responsible have argued (convincingly) that it is different from other user-to-user platforms,” the BBC quotes data protection expert Mona Schroedel.
(mho)
