Or the only other way is an age verification and private service with a fee. Not sure there is any other way.
Sad times. As people have already said, many people use this site (and others) not just for the actual topic of the site but to seek help, advice, guidance etc. and this site in particular is a beacon for many SAFC souls who have found themselves in need. It is a great community on here where every single one of us brings something different to it, and to close down such places because of the current climate we find ourselves in (can't say boo to a goose in effect) is a crying shame and I sincerely hope the act is reversed or those clever enough can find somewhere new for us all to gather to laugh, cry and help out in the best way we can.
Looks like the 16th March will be the day I permanently start using a VPN for browsing on my phone or at home. Basically they don't know how to regulate anything properly so will take a massive sledgehammer to everything. Only the likes of Facebook will be able to continue...which is ironically one of the most dangerous places on the internet.
Destroy all forums due to the tiny minority that cause problems. It doesn’t make sense from that point of view. How do you police them and not be this heavy handed? I’ve no answer to that either though, unfortunately. That’s pretty grim. Thinking about the workarounds, the llgss link is enlightening reading. Snippet here:
I'd be genuinely upset if it all ended. I don't know anyone on here (why would i) and have no contact details, yet feel like I've known a lot of you for years (I guess I have).
Reddit is American owned, is in the top 10 most visited websites in the world and has it's own moderating tools that should already cover what's needed. Pretty sure it'll not be impacted in the slightest and there are already subreddits for pretty much any topic covered by any forum that may be effected (like the Sunderland one HERE).
That's at least two of us mate. This place and others like it are a great place to engage with fellow fans and often the subjects discussed aren't limited to football and are in some instances a valuable contact point with the outside world for those who would otherwise be very isolated. It certainly doesn't make for good reading but there will be others, far more IT savvy than me who will have a lot better insight. Fingers crossed.
' tiny minority'... there have been (and probably still are) a few on this site alone that have 'fallen foul' of an admin and taken it to heart, these are the ones who will get admins into trouble. the problem is, and i said this many years ago, once they start bowing to a minority then the next minority want the same...now i am sure every member of this site is quite happy to see minorities given equal standing, which they should have had all along...but when you see major headlines about somebody using a word some group does not like to see you realise how crazy it is becoming. if this bill goes through then we can finally say we have seen the end of 'common sense'.
I have an IT degree and consider myself quite tech savvy. I’ve never used Reddit and every time I go on it, it confuses the hell out of me
If this place does go maybe we're should do a massive meet up on one of those international breaks. Hope it doesn't go tbh but if they're using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut then I can't see it staying
Hello Everyone, I've been made aware of your concerns today, and have sought to find some answers in relation to them. So first up your concerns are fully understandable because I know this forum is a valuable online community to you, so please relax we intend on complying with all legislation that is required for a forum our size. Here's an interpretation of those rules for small sites... https://russ.garrett.co.uk/2024/12/17/online-safety-act-guide/ We can comply with all of this and it looks like Ofcom will come to us and give us a warning if they think your site is not compliant. I have today raised all this with the site owner and he is aware of it and has been doing his own research on the topic. We will naturally seek our own legal advice to ensure we are compliant as well. I'm not aware of any under 18's on the site, as far as I'm aware we are forum of mainly men (all over 18) with some women (over 18), this will also aid us going forward to ensure any under 18's are blocked in the future. Sorry I can't be any clearer for now, but we also have to be careful not to make public statements until such time we have ensured our house is fully compliant. Once again thank you, and please don't panic we are not going anywhere. brb
