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The social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, has accused the British government of “overreach” with its new Online Safety Act, a law designed to protect children from harmful content like pornography.
In a statement posted to its Global Government Affairs account on Friday, August 1, X criticised the law, arguing that its “laudable intentions are at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach.”
X stated that the law could seriously infringe on public free expression and that “oversight becomes overreach.”
The company also voiced criticism of a separate new code of conduct for online platforms, calling it “parallel and duplicative,” and questioned the free-speech implications of a new police unit created to monitor social media.
Despite its opposition, X has already implemented formal age verification systems in response to the UK law, as well as new rules in Ireland and the wider European Union. These systems offer users several options, including a selfie-based age estimation using AI or uploading an official ID document.
Britain’s media regulator, Ofcom, mandates that these age checks, which have been required since July 25, must be “technically accurate, robust, reliable, and fair.”
Platforms that fail to comply face substantial fines of up to £18 million ($24 million) or 10% of their global revenue, whichever is greater. Serious offenders could even be blocked from operating in the UK.
The debate over age verification in the UK mirrors similar discussions in other countries, including France and several U.S. states.
While child safety advocates support these measures, opponents raise concerns about user privacy and the risk of identity theft.
Following the implementation of the new law, there has been a significant surge in downloads of virtual private network (VPN) apps in the UK, as many people seek to bypass the territorial restrictions on online content.
