The UK’s Online Safety Act, a new law designed to protect online users, particularly children, from harmful content. Many sources express significant concerns about the Act’s implications for free speech, privacy, and data security, arguing that it could lead to widespread censorship, particularly of political discourse and protest footage, and compel users to provide sensitive personal data for age verification, increasing the risk of data breaches. Critics highlight that the Act outsources censorship to tech companies and payment processors, leading to algorithmic content moderation and a potential “surveillance state.” Conversely, supporters of the Act emphasise its role in safeguarding children from harmful material and ensuring online accountability for platforms.

Social media companies ​​are blocking wide-ranging content – including posts about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza – in an attempt to comply with the UK’s new Online Safety Act, BBC Verify has found.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3l0e4vr0ko
For the first time since records began, the United Kingdom is no longer classified as an “Open” country in a leading global ranking of freedom of expression.
https://thecritic.co.uk/the-uk-is-no-longer-an-open-country-for-free-expression/
https://reclaimthenet.org/uk-government-emails-reveal-push-to-pressure-tech-platforms-to-remove-lawful-speech-on-immigration-and-policing
https://reclaimthenet.org/uk-online-safety-act-censorship-hits-lawmakers-political-posts
https://reclaimthenet.org/uk-ministers-warn-vpn-use-online-safety-act-hypocrisy
https://reclaimthenet.org/oppose-censorship-laws-and-youre-supporting-predators-claims-uk-labour-minister
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/human-rights-defenders-raise-concerns-that-online-safety-act-will-lead-to-censorship-of-palestine-protest/
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/no-uks-online-safety-act-doesnt-make-children-safer-online
UK Barrister responds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxTwFZNgOGE

If you want to check your ISP for censorship blocks and more,
here are some resources.

https://www.blocked.org.uk
Blocked will check if a site is being blocked by instantly running tests on major fixed line ISPs and mobile networks.
You can easily add the search function to your browser.

Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
https://ooni.org
Founded in 2012, OONI is a non-profit free software project that aims to empower decentralized efforts in documenting internet censorship around the world.
OONI Probe is available for desktop and mobile.

Founded in 2005, Open Rights Group (ORG) is a UK-based digital rights organisation that campaigns to protect our rights to privacy and free speech online.
https://www.openrightsgroup.org

EFF
https://www.eff.org/issues/content-blocking
Founded in 1990, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world.

Reclaim The Net
https://reclaimthenet.org
The latest news about privacy, surveillance and censorship.

Global Expression Report
https://www.globalexpressionreport.org/regions-europe-and-central-asia
The Global Expression Report (GxR) is an annual look at the right to free expression and information worldwide.