What the law does
- Creates duties for services to reduce illegal content and protect children; empowers regulators to enforce.
- Compliance pushes platforms toward heavy content detection and risk management.
- Implementation choices can pressure private spaces and encrypted channels.
Why critics worry
- Encryption pressure: Client‑side scanning weakens end‑to‑end encryption by design.
- Collateral censorship: Automated filters over‑remove; appeals are slow; marginalized voices suffer more.
- Compliance burden: Small platforms may block UK users or shut down features entirely.
Age checks 101
- Third‑party age assurance (IDs, facial estimates, mobile checks) increases data flows and risks.
- Use privacy‑preserving proofs (minimal, tokenized attestations) wherever possible.
- Demand clear deletion policies, audits, and independent oversight.
Tip: prefer methods that prove “over/under” without revealing identity.