EU Internet Laws

[Shawn Gossman]

Do internet EU laws make it harder to run a forum?

This is a question mainly geared at EU-based forum owners but are others impacted from other countries, as well?

 

[Tracy]

I know that there have been several sites in the UK that are shutting down due to the Online Safety Act that went into became law recently.

 

[Cedric]

Not really. I don't allow children on my forums.

 

[Cpvr]

I know that there have been several sites in the UK that are shutting down due to the Online Safety Act that went into became law recently.

It is kind of surprising. Honestly, they could’ve just moved their servers to the US or figured out a workaround instead of throwing in the towel. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen strict laws get introduced, GDPR, COPPA, etc, and plenty of sites adapted just fine.


Feels like some of them were maybe already halfway out the door and just used this as a convenient excuse to wrap things up.


But hey, as the saying goes: a soft head makes a soft ass

 

[Tracy]

It is kind of surprising. Honestly, they could’ve just moved their servers to the US or figured out a workaround instead of throwing in the towel.

I think the way the law was written kind of eliminated that "out" that was there. It did not matter where the server was based, but more the owner of it. For someone like me in the US, I don't have to worry about it.
And no, there were some pretty popular sites shutting down.

Save our Sites: Deadline 17 March

Incredible as it may seem, thanks to the Online Safety Act, dozens of harmless, safe, small websites are closing down by 17 March, rather than face threats of fines that could lose their operators their homes.

www.openrightsgroup.org

20-year-old browser game to shut down as result of UK's new online safety law

Free-to-play text MMO browser game, Urban Dead, will close just shy of its 20th anniversary because of the introduction…

www.gamesindustry.biz

Lfgss shutting down 16th March 2025 (day before Online Safety Act is enforced) | Hacker News

news.ycombinator.com

There's been a lot of discussion on it. A few folks that I know that live in the UK are still debating on whether they even want to keep running a site due to the requirements and the possibility of punishment if they don't do perfect. And no, none of them run big sites, but should it matter whether the site is large or small?