The UK’s Online Safety Act is affecting AI roleplay, and the legislation is forcing platforms to make drastic changes.
Unfiltered or uncensored AI roleplay platforms that allow NSFW content are implementing regional restrictions because they have no other feasible options. They are also encouraging users to sign a petition to repeal the Online Safety Act.
The UK’s Online Safety Act
The UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) is a law designed to regulate online platforms and protect users, especially children, from illegal and harmful content. While it mainly focuses on visual sexual material, the law is broad enough to include text-based, fantasy, and generative content.
All websites on which pornographic material can be found, including social media platforms, must introduce “robust” age-checking techniques such as demanding photo ID or running credit card checks for UK users by July.
Tom Gerken, BBC.
The Act imposes strict compliance requirements, particularly on sites that contain user-generated content, including AI-generated outputs.
Why The UK’s Online Safety Act Affects AI Roleplay Platforms
Unfiltered or uncensored AI roleplay platforms like JanitorAI and Chub include user-generated content such as character cards, comments, and AI outputs. They also allow users to interact and share content through comments, reviews, making their AI chats public, and more.
While these platforms restrict registration to individuals 18 and older, the OSA requires them to verify users’ ages before granting access to their services.
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To comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act, AI roleplay platforms will need to collect and store users’ personal information or ID documents, and dedicate significant resources to verify their ages.
Most AI roleplay platforms operate at a financial loss, with a small development team and a moderation team made up of volunteers. Meeting the OSA’s requirements would be impossible for them.
Additionally, their users are unlikely to share personal information and IDs due to privacy concerns. As a result, these platforms have only one option: implementing regional restrictions and either blocking access or removing all NSFW content for users from the UK.
Chub Removes NSFW Content For Users From The UK
Chub announced that to comply with the legislation, they would remove all NSFW content for users in the UK and Australia. Their platform continues to offer uncensored AI roleplay in all other regions.
JanitorAI Blocks Access For Users From The UK
JanitorAI announced that, to comply with the legislation, they would block users from the UK from accessing their platform. Their platform continues to offer uncensored AI roleplay to all other regions.
Additionally, JanitorAI also encouraged its users to sign a petition and ask the UK Parliament to reconsider the OSA.
Moving Ahead
There’s an ongoing discussion about the OSA, focusing on how the legislation is outdated and invasive, impacting users’ privacy. Concerns are also rising about other countries implementing similar laws.
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Not every platform has the technological and financial resources similar to those of tech giants to continue serving users from the UK. Currently, platforms have no choice but to comply with the OSA by blocking access for users from the UK.
In the coming days, more platforms will take this drastic measure as we wait for UK legislators to catch up with modern times.
