Comment by zimpenfish
4 months ago
> if you allow users to upload and share images
On my single-user Fedi server, the only person who can directly upload and share images is me. But because my profile is public, it's entirely possible that someone I'm following posts something objectionable (either intentionally or via exploitation) and it would be visible via my server (albeit fetched from the remote site.) Does that come under "moderation"? Ofcom haven't been clear. And if someone can post pornography, your site needs age verification. Does my single-user Fedi instance now need age verification because a random child might look at my profile and see a remotely-hosted pornographic image that someone (not on my instance) has posted? Ofcom, again, have not been clear.
It's a crapshoot with high stakes and only one side knows the rules.
> On my single-user Fedi server,
Then you don't have a user to user service you're running, right?
> And if someone can post pornography, your site needs age verification.
That's an entirely separate law, isn't it?
> Then you don't have a user to user service you're running, right?
"The Act’s duties apply to search services and services that allow users to post content online or to interact with each other."[0]
My instance does allow users (me) to post content online and, technically, depending on how you define "user", it does allow me to interact with other "users". Problem is that the act and Ofcom haven't clearly defined what "other users of that service" means - a bare reading would interpret it as "users who have accounts/whatever on the same system", yes, and that's what I'm going with but it's a risk if they then say "actually, it means anyone who can interact with your content from other systems"[2] (although I believe they do have a carve out for news sites, etc., re: "people can only interact with content posted by the service" which may also cover a small single-user Fedi instance. But who knows? I certainly can't afford a lawyer or solicitor to give me guidance for each of my servers that could fall under OSA - that's into double digits right now.)
> That's an entirely separate law, isn't it?
No, OSA covers that[1]
[0] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act...
[1] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/protecting-children/i...
[2] "To be considered a user of a user-to-user service for a month, a person doesn’t need to post anything. Just viewing content on a user-to-user service is enough to count as using that service." from https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-c...