FAO Mods - The UK online safety bill that comes into effect on March 17th

I think part of this also turns on the extent to which the board is a “service”. There is a checking process to determine whether it would apply to us, which should be the first port of call - unless someone has done it already.

It says: “If your business provides an online service (a service made available over the internet), such as a website or an app, the Act may apply.” That might suggest a way to get around it. I can see why the other forum was scared by the broad scope but I see this as being aimed at sites that have a direct link with the public by virtue of the services it offers. Could be wrong though.

Edit: Plus what Hugo said about risk assessments.

hugopal this is useful, cheers Hugo.

Wally The chain of thought on the other forum I mentioned is that users with a grudge against the place could post something deliberately litigious then report it to the police to fuck the mods.

I could certainly see Flares doing that.

I don’t think that would necessarily result in ramifications for the site or the mods so long as the site has a report function in place allowing such content to be flagged and subsequently deleted. The only thing it may mean is that the mods may wish to be a bit more strict perhaps with what they allow to be posted until it becomes more clear how onerous and likely to be enforced the policy is.

But I think the only risk points for what currently gets typically posted here is making sure that no one posts that they hope another forum member kills themself, even if only in jest. Discussion of illegal substances will also need to be coded and ensured that it is not seen to be offering or pointing to any sales of said produce.

whatever Yes, there will need to be a clear terms and conditions alongside the moderation function, which basically just copies and pastes what the supposed illegal risk factors for this site are according to Ofcom’s online risk assessment tool. Maybe each new user will need to tick a box that they’ve read the Ts&Cs on account creation (can’t remember if this is already the case) and then probably make the Ts&Cs a sticky post at the top of the board.

Users should then be encouraged to report anything which may be deemed to be illegal content according to these guidelines.

So reading through the link Hugo provided for guidance for small organisations such as our own, I think we may be OK (thoughts all?)

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/helping-small-services-navigate-the-online-safety-act/

We already have a “flag” function in order for users to bring posts to moderators attention, and we mainly deal with bad shoes and a sub genre of house music that the world forgot about, so nothing in scope content wise.

One thing that will need to be worked on is T&C’s. Do we have any legal eagles amongst us who could help out with this?

Once the new Ts & Cs are in place, the mods may wish to discourage Nas from referring to his music again as “weaponised” prog - just so it can’t be interpreted as him planning on committing a terrorist offence (even though his music is in its own right a crime against humanity).