UK Online Safety Act faces renewed US criticism in human rights report (update*)
By Patricia Figueiredo ( August 13, 2025, 14:29 GMT | Insight) -- The UK’s Online Safety Act risks undermining free expression and privacy, the US Department of State has said in its latest annual human rights review, citing regulator Ofcom’s authority to compel US platforms to monitor and tackle illegal content. The report used the Southport killings last year an example of how the British framework could “chill speech” since platforms were then required to act on the spread of content that was considered harmful. The criticism is the latest in a series of US objections to platform regulation across the world, as Brazil was also singled out for its content-moderation rules. Ofcom has disputed some of the assessment’s claims.A new US human rights review has renewed American criticism of the UK’s Online Safety Act, framing the law as a risk to free expression and privacy, and marking the latest chapter in a series of US interventions over Britain’s platform regulation framework. But the UK’s communications regulator has disputed some of the assessment’s claims, saying it does not tell services to remove specific posts and that protecting free expression is part of its remit....
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