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Follow us on FacebookGreat Britain may have to block Wikipedia under new laws
@ 2023/05/05Some good news from the oven-ready Brexit
Wikipedia could be made inaccessible to UK readers due to issues over complying with Great Britain’s online safety bill, a charity affiliated with the website has warned.
After Brexit, the UK government has been trying to push through laws which would never have a chance under the EU including an Online Safety Bill to “protect children” but is accused of requiring sites to become government data harvesters.
Lucy Crompton-Reid, the chief executive of Wikimedia UK, warned the popular site could be blocked because it will not carry out age verification if required to do so by the bill.
Crompton-Reid told the BBC it was “definitely possible that one of the most visited websites in the world – and a vital source of freely accessible knowledge and information for millions of people – won’t be accessible to UK readers (let alone UK-based contributors)”.
Wikipedia could be made inaccessible to UK readers due to issues over complying with Great Britain’s online safety bill, a charity affiliated with the website has warned.
After Brexit, the UK government has been trying to push through laws which would never have a chance under the EU including an Online Safety Bill to “protect children” but is accused of requiring sites to become government data harvesters.
Lucy Crompton-Reid, the chief executive of Wikimedia UK, warned the popular site could be blocked because it will not carry out age verification if required to do so by the bill.
Crompton-Reid told the BBC it was “definitely possible that one of the most visited websites in the world – and a vital source of freely accessible knowledge and information for millions of people – won’t be accessible to UK readers (let alone UK-based contributors)”.
