Britain Has Forgotten How to Be Free

This week, I received a private Substack message from a Persuasion subscriber. Assuming it was a query about their subscription or the podcast, I attempted to open it—only to discover that it was blocked unless I provided evidence that I am over the age of 18. The UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) has struck again—leading Substack to block all private messages unless the recipient can verify their age.1

Over the last 18 months, the grip of the OSA has become more apparent to internet users with each click. The law was passed by the British parliament in October 2023 but came into effect in stages, the last of which was in July 2025. Among other things, it requires tech companies to take action against illegal content on their platforms, such as child sexual abuse, revenge porn, and fraud. Concerningly, however, the OSA also requires tech companies to protect children from content that is not illegal, but which is nevertheless deemed “harmful.”

The two categories of legal-but-harmful content are worryingly fluid. “Primary priority content” includes pornography and content that promotes suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders. “Priority content” includes content that children “should be given age-appropriate access to,” such as “bullying,” “abusive or hateful content,” and content depicting or encouraging “serious violence or injury.”