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this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2025
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Privacy
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Here's one way to fix this that might even overturn the law. Turn off Wikipedia in the UK. Put a big banner up on the homepage that says, we have turned off Wikipedia in your country because of your government. Here's how to use a VPN to access our content.
Edit: Make it apologetic and conciliatory. Like, we're sorry, we've had to disable Wikipedia in your region because of your government's draconian policies. If you would like to visit our content, please use a VPN. If you need help learning to use a VPN and then link to a here's how page
It's illegal to recommend using a VPN or teach people how to use a VPN in order to get around these age-check laws.
"It is illegal for us to recommend using services like a VPN to bypass these limits. We do recommend you ask your government why they don't want you to know about these services or have access to free educational content".
“We do not condone using a VPN to circumvent these restrictions. To make sure you will not accidentally use a VPN we’ve decided to make our article about VPN‘s the only one available in this country.“
The wording on ofcom is "should not" not" must not". It's not illegal, they just don't want people to do it and want people to think that it is illegal.
👆They just need to add this as a disclaimer instead.
Have a banner with information on why it is blocked, and have the only accessible page be of the Online Safety Act. Then, make that page list what counts as "(teaching) circumvention methods" and say that teaching others how to do those things is illegal. If anyone is truly interested in seeking knowledge and learning, they will be able to figure it out elsewhere
Imagine what will happen next, will they just ignore that a stupid law have broken wikipedia in the entire UK? Lol, I think at least someone would be concerned.
They can't recommend using a VPN, but they can say "some users are illegally subverting the ban using a VPN. For more information on this subject see: [link to VPN guide]."
I read from another comment somewhere that the law or whatever said that they should not promote a VPN, not that they could not promote a VPN. Those are two totally different words.
However, your way is probably safer and not reliant on language.
If they don't operate in the UK, why can't they recommend a VPN?
They can outside of the UK, but for stuff accessible in the UK, they can't. To be specific, I think it's that they can't recommend one to get around this law. They can in general, but not to avoid the law.