Close
Dr Bernard Keenan co-authors report on the Online Safety Act 2023 for the Open Rights Group.
27 May 2025
GCDC member Bernard Keenan has co-authored a report (with Dia J Kayyali) for the Open Rights Group.
The report, titled How to Fix the Online Safety Act: A Rights First Approach, offers a detailed analysis of the UK’s Online Safety Act 2023, which imposes new duties on online service providers to protect children from harmful content. The report also examines Ofcom’s role as the designated regulator responsible for implementing the Act. The report notes that the 2023 Act forms part of a broader international trend toward increased content moderation and age verification that is reshaping speech on the internet.
The report recommends that, among other things, the UK government and Ofcom should align with international human rights standards; ensure transparency and accuracy through incentives; ensure proportional takedown decisions; protect privacy and security, including end-to-end encryption; exempt low risk and public interest sites, services, and purposes; and protect news and free expression including appeals to the courts.
The full report is available on the Open Rights Group website.