Legal action taken by the Wikimedia Foundation, the owner and operator of Wikipedia, against the UK government’s Online Safety Act was dismissed by a High Court judge on Monday.
The organisation made the challenge over concerns the act’s categorisation rules could impose stringent requirements on Wikipedia that would “undermine the privacy and safety of Wikipedia’s volunteer contributors, expose the encyclopedia to manipulation and vandalism, and divert essential resources from protecting people and improving Wikipedia”.
Wikimedia’s concern was based on the requirements of a Category 1 site, which includes verifying the identity of users.
The foundation said if it was classified as a Category 1 site it would have to significantly limit access to Wikipedia from British users.
The case was dismissed by Judge Jeremy Johnson, however, said that Wikimedia could make an additional challenge in the event that the Category 1 designation was imposed on it.
Johnson said the dismissal “does not give Ofcom and the Secretary of State a green light to implement a regime that would significantly impede Wikipedia’s operations”.
The Wikimedia Foundation said while the decision was not what it had “hoped for”, it was pleased that the court acknowledged that “the responsibility of Ofcom and the UK government to ensure Wikipedia is protected”.
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