To repeal or not repeal: UK Parliament discusses the Online Safety Act

• UK Parliament held a debate on the Online Safety Act (OSA)
• This comes after a petition contesting the law amassed 500k signatures
• MPs mostly agreed OSA should not be repealed, suggesting stricter rules

After officially becoming law in October 2023, the Online Safety Act was back in the UK Parliament yesterday after a petition calling for its repeal gained over half a million signatures.

The petition argued that the law “is far broader and restrictive than is necessary in a free society.” However, most MPs suggested that rather than being repealed, the legislation should actually be strengthened.

Brits have long been concerned about the Online Safety Act’s potential to encourage online censorship, and have repeatedly highlighted the negative impact mandatory age checks could have on privacy and security.

Despite not leading to immediate changes, the debate offered an opportunity for MPs to challenge the government on the law's implementation. Here are the main takeaways.

What MPs are saying on age verification

Most of the MPs taking part in yesterday's discussion argued that the OSA is a crucial piece of legislation to protect children online. However, some MPs did raise a few challenges around its implementation.

Specifically, lawmakers discussed concerns around freedom of speech and referenced examples of political discourse being unnecessarily age-gated.

"What is or is not age-restricted needs to be far clearer, more consistent, and more proportionate," said Independent MP for Dewsbury and Batley, Iqbal Mohamed.

Some MPs also echoed experts' and citizens' concerns about age verification's negative impact on privacy, with Victoria Collins, a Liberal Democrat MP, arguing that "age assurance systems also pose a problem to data protection and privacy."

But MPs seemed to be in agreement that none of these challenges warranted a real discussion about the law's future. Instead, the focus remained on refining how the law is implemented.

A particular area of focus was the use of VPN apps.

While many people have turned en masse to the best VPN apps to protect their privacy, lawmakers expressed concern that children could use these apps to evade checks. Consequently, the UK Lords proposed a ban on VPNs for children last week.

From the debate, it's clear that lawmakers will continue to monitor VPN usage and have not ruled out introducing stricter rules against VPN providers in the coming year.

Encryption – not a main concern for MPs

Beyond age verification, digital rights advocates and technologists remain concerned about provisions that have yet to be fully implemented, warning they could pose a significant a risk to end-to-end encryption.

The UK regulator Ofcom has already shared plans to expand file monitoring in 2026, extending requirements to detect illegal material across more online services—regardless of whether they are encrypted.

Speaking to TechRadar ahead of the debate, Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO at the Index on Censorship, warned that end-to-end encryption could be compromised in the future. "These apps are a lifeline. Even setting aside the high price that dissidents would pay if they lost that privacy, the average person should have it as a natural right," said Steinfeld.

Yesterday's debate only touched briefly on this point, suggesting that MPs do not share the same concerns as experts. Labour MP for Milton Keynes Central, Emily Darlington, referred to "easy technological fixes" that purportedly avoid breaching encryption. Yet, security researchers have repeatedly argued that such tools—similar to those proposed in the EU – would fundamentally undermine encrypted systems.

What's next?

The recent debate didn't mark a turning point for the Online Safety Act (OSA). Lawmakers have demonstrated no intention of scrapping the legislation, nor do they appear willing to drop its most controversial provisions. Nevertheless, the proceedings provided valuable insight into MPs current priorities.

The risks associated with algorithmic amplification and generative AI appear to be the primary focus for lawmakers moving forward. Yet, as many MPs acknowledged, there are still significant issues with the Act's current implementation. While the continued dialogue is a positive sign, words alone may not be sufficient to effect real change.

Callum Voge, Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy at the Internet Society, told TechRadar that the debate alone is unlikely to prompt a rethink. "This week’s debate will not be enough to reopen the controversial provisions alone," Voge said. "There will need to be continued public pressure on these issues to ensure that the concerns are really heard and addressed."

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!