Ms Crompton-Read said some educational articles on Wikipedia about sexuality or other adult topics could be misinterpreted as pornography. It will also impose duties on tech providers to stop children from accessing inappropriate or adult content, which could include adding age verification checks. The Online Safety Bill, which is expected to come into force by 2024, will require internet giants to protect users from harmful or illegal posts. Wikipedia, a non-profit, hosts 6.6 million articles on thousands of topics in hundreds of languages, with pages edited and maintained by a network of volunteers. Ms Crompton-Reid told the BBC it was “definitely possible that one of the most visited websites in the world – and a vital source of freely accessible knowledge and information for millions of people – won't be accessible to UK readers”. The Wikimedia Foundation, which supports the free encyclopaedia, said it would refuse to verify the age of UK readers.įailure to properly comply with the Online Safety Bill could create a situation where the site is fined, or even blocked for UK users entirely. Lucy Crompton-Reid, chief executive of Wikimedia UK, warned the text of the bill could compel the website to introduce age verification. Wikipedia could be shut down for UK internet users under the Online Safety Bill, a charity that helps run the internet encyclopaedia has claimed.
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