Last week, the UK’s Online Safety Act came into force. It’s fair to say it hasn’t been smooth sailing. Donald Trump’s allies have dubbed it the “UK’s online censorship law”, and the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, added fuel to the fire by claiming that Nigel Farage’s opposition to the act put him “on the side” of Jimmy Savile.

Disdain from the right isn’t surprising. After all, tech companies will now have to assess the risk their platforms pose of disseminating the kind of racist misinformation that fuelled last year’s summer riots. What has particularly struck me, though, is the backlash from progressive quarters. Online outlet Novara Media published an interview claiming the Online Safety Act compromises children’s safety. Politics Joe joked that the act involves “banning Pornhub”. New YouGov polling shows that Labour voters are even less likely to support age verification on porn websites than Conservative or Liberal Democrat voters.

I helped draft Ofcom’s regulatory guidance setting out how platforms should comply with the act’s requirements on age verification. Because of the scope of the act and the absence of a desire to force tech platforms to adopt specific technologies, this guidance was broad and principles-based – if the regulator prescribed specific measures, it would be accused of authoritarianism. Taking a principles-based approach is more sensible and future proof, but does allow tech companies to interpret the regulation poorly.

Despite these challenges, I am supportive of the principles of the act. As someone with progressive politics, I have always been deeply concerned about the impact of an unregulated online world. Bad news abounds:........

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