#digital rights

Due to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 and Online Safety Act 2023, the UK has become a hostile online environment for activists, leading the We Are Open Co-op to host Amnesty International UK’s community platform outside the country. Internet lawyer Neil Brown shares these concerns and is considering routing some of his traffic through servers outside the UK to preserve access and privacy.

The note criticizes the UK government's mandate for encryption backdoors under the guise of child safety, citing Signal's response that such surveillance does not protect children. Signal argues that real child safety requires education, social services, and AI guardrails, not invisible surveillance infrastructure.