Wikipedia's parent organization lost a challenge to the UK Online Safety Act but can bring another case if the government tries to force it to verify the identity of Wikipedia users.
The High Court of Justice in London dismissed claims from the Wikimedia Foundation, which challenged the lawfulness of the categorization system used to determine which sites must comply with obligations. But Justice Jeremy Johnson stressed "that this does not give Ofcom and the Secretary of State a green light to implement a regime that would significantly impede Wikipedia's operations."
The Online Safety Act has forced social media sites like Reddit to verify UK users' ages before letting them view adult content. The Wikimedia Foundation is worried that it will be classified as a "Category 1" operator later this summer and criticized the categorization regulations as "especially broad and vague."
If the collaborative encyclopedia "is designated as Category 1, the Wikimedia Foundation will need to verify the identity of Wikipedia users," the foundation said. "That rule does not itself force every user to undergo verification—but under a linked rule (s.15(10)(a)), the Foundation would also need to allow other (potentially malicious) users to block all unverified users from fixing or removing any content they post. This could mean significant amounts of vandalism, disinformation or abuse going unchecked on Wikipedia, unless volunteers of all ages, all over the world, undergo identity verification."
This would be burdensome to users and "could expose users to data breaches, stalking, vexatious lawsuits or even imprisonment by authoritarian regimes," the foundation said. Wikipedia estimates it has 26 million monthly users in the UK, exceeding the 7 million figure identified in government regulations.
Rules intended for social media
The Wikipedia operator argued in court that the government's criteria are logically flawed. While the rules are "intended to capture large profitable social media companies where anonymous content can 'go viral,'" the criteria were "drawn too broadly with the result that Wikipedia is likely to qualify as a Category 1 service even though that was never the policy intention," the High Court said in a summary of the foundation's argument.
The court disagreed with Wikimedia's claim that the system is illogical, saying that "the claimants have not identified any basic flaw in the logic or reasoning that Ofcom applied, and which officials approved, and the Secretary of State accepted... The fact that the criteria may capture some services that do not give rise to viral dissemination does not mean that they are irrational."
Although the court dismissed Wikimedia's challenge, it could intervene later if the UK classifies Wikipedia as Category 1. A Category 1 classification for Wikipedia "would have to be justified as proportionate if it were not to amount to a breach of the right to freedom of expression... It is, however, premature to rule on that now. Neither party has sought a ruling as to whether Wikipedia is a Category 1 service... If Ofcom decides that Wikipedia is not a Category 1 service, then no further issue will arise."
The Wikimedia Foundation said today it was hoping to obtain "immediate legal protections for Wikipedia" with its challenge to the categorization regulations but is glad that "the Court's ruling emphasized the responsibility of Ofcom and the UK government to ensure Wikipedia is protected as the OSA [Online Safety Act] is implemented."
Wikimedia said it's not clear exactly how the UK can apply its criteria without designating Wikipedia as Category 1. The ruling "suggested that Ofcom may need to find a particularly flexible interpretation of the rules in question, or that the rules themselves may need amendment in Parliament," the foundation said. "If the ruling stands, the first categorization decisions from Ofcom are expected this summer. The Foundation will continue to seek solutions to protect Wikipedia and the rights of its users as the OSA continues to be implemented."
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