I'm writing to you in regards to the recently enforced Online Safety Bill. I ask that, where possible, you advocate for repealing it as it does not meet the goals and objectives it has set out to.

It is easy to circumvent by using a VPN to hide your country of origin. Free VPNs are easily available, heavily advertised and some even get included with modern web browsers. Even if people are unwilling to use a VPN, there are over 1 billion websites in the world. It's completely impractical for Ofcom to police and audit them all in case they have objectionable content.

Of course, if these websites don't follow the OSB, they are unlikely to follow any other UK regulation or guidance. Pornhub devotes a lot of work to compliance and safety. The OBS will push users from PornHub onto random sketchy porn sites that are born from exploitation.

In fact, from a safety perspective, I can't think of a better gift to predators than pushing teens and adults away from sites that comply with UK law.

There's also the fact that it gives huge amount of power to large US based countries. The legislation is very dense and hard to parse. Practically speaking, the only people with the resources to understand and implement it are the huge US based social media platforms. Many small websites and forums, the lifeblood of a healthy internet, have blocked the UK, shut down or are worried for their future. Even if they do comply, many people would feel uncomfortable giving ID and/or credit card details to random small websites they don't recognize.

I also feel it's important to point out what the UK is doing here. The US is going down a certain trajectory that is incompatible with a country that claims to support free expression and LGBTI+ rights. The leader of one of the major social media platforms literally did a Nazi salute.

So I ask: Why is the UK mandating that all Brits send US websites images of their face, ID documents, payment information and sexual preferences?

True, Ofcom has strict requirements on what identity providers can and can't store, but they don't have the resources to move fast enough to prevent damage done by bad actors. They can't fight against US surveillance, profiling and ICE. They can't react fast enough to companies selling private customer details to the highest bidders. They can't react to fraudulent verification systems stealing people's identity under the guise of "verification".

Remember the Ashley Madison data breach which cost many people their lives? Why is the UK rolling that out to all of its population?

I'm a strong believer that education is the best answer to the concerns the OSB is trying to solve.

* Cloudflare operates a web service that blocks all adult content and is easy to set up. Discord provides "parent accounts" where parents can monitor their children. Parents should be given the tools and knowhow to protect their children.
* On the other side of the coin, children should be empowered. To feel comfortable opening up and sharing when something feels uncomfortable. Not to bottle it up because they're guilty about breaking the law.
* In addition, teens should be taught, perhaps in school, that porn is an unrealistic fantasy; that it's all fake and exaggerated. That their first time should be soft, awkward and romantic, and not what they see in videos.

I think doing these will be cheaper and more effective than sending Ofcom round knocking on 1 billion doors.

So I ask you, please take steps to actually protect your constituents rather than relying on empty gestures made by a government that doesn't share your values nor understand technology.