Human rights defenders raise concerns that Online Safety Act will lead to censorship of Palestine protest

Human rights organisations, academics and experts have written to Ofcom and the tech companies, Meta, Alphabet, X and ByteDance, asking for clarification over how they will protect the right to freedom of expression online in light of the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.

The letter’s signatories raise concerns that legal duties under the Online Safety Act combined with the UK’s vague definition of terrorism could lead to content being wrongly identified as illegal and removed. This could include content that is supportive of Palestine, content that questions or discusses the proscription of Palestine Action, and content that supports direct action in support of Palestine.

Sara Chitseko, Pre-Crime Programme Manager at Open Rights Group said:

“Crucial public debate about Gaza is being threatened by vague, overly broad laws that could lead to content about Palestine being removed or hidden online. There’s also a real danger that people will start self-censoring, worried they might be breaking the law just by sharing or liking posts related to Palestine and non-violent direct action.

“This is a serious attack on freedom of expression and the right to protest in the UK. We need to ensure that people can share content about Palestine online with being afraid that they will be characterised as supportive of terrorism.

“How these laws are applied should concern everyone, regardless of their political views.”

Ofcom has advised platforms that they don’t need to worry about their Online Safety Act duties if they are more censorious than the Act requires. This is known as the bypass strategy. This means that platforms are incentivised to censor content to avoid the risk of fines and disincentivised to protect freedom of expression. In addition, people in the UK do not have an accessible mechanism to get justice if their posts are wrongly censored or their accounts wrongfully banned.

The letter is published a week after the Online Safety Act’s controversial age verification duties were implemented, requiring tech platforms to age gate ‘adult’ material. This has also created fears about restrictions to accessing content about Palestine. For example, Reddit users in the UK have to verify their age, using the US age verification provider Persona, in order to access the Reddit sub r/israelexposed. There have also been reports that posts about Palestine on X have also been age gated.

People have also been arrested for allegedly expressing support for Palestine Action, including an 83 year old retired priest and former magistrate and a former headteacher carrying a print out of a Private Eye cartoon.

While Palestine Action have won the legal right to challenge the Home Secretary over their proscription, the organisations believe that Ofcom and the tech platforms urgently need to take action as censorship could already be taking place.

The letter also asks whether platforms will remove content related to Palestine Action globally, or just for users in the UK.

Ella Jakubowska, Head of Policy at EDRi said:

“The heavy-handed takedown of digital content, fuelled by overly-broad terrorism definitions, will inevitably suppress critical voices, journalism and social movements around the world. The problem is worsened by automated content moderation systems, well-known for over-removing content from Palestinian creators, in support of Black Lives Matter, about LGBTQI+ issues, and more.


”It is very likely that in trying to comply with these requirements, platforms would unjustly remove content from people in the EU and other regions. This would contravene laws like the EU Digital Services Act, designed to strike a good balance between keeping people safe online, while ensuring they can still seek information, express dissent, and speak truth to power. The UK government’s over-reach could therefore impact the ability of people globally to participate in vital democratic processes.”