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Re:Wikimedia Foundation Challenges UK Online Safety Act Regu... by owisd on Monday August 11, 2025 @12:13PM (#44865946)
Problem with Wikipedia specifically going all-in on a UK block is, due to the licence, there's nothing to stop someone circumventing the block to make a OSA-compliant Britipedia mirror with minimal effort.
Re:Wikimedia Foundation Challenges UK Online Safety Act Regu... by saati on Monday August 11, 2025 @02:45PM (#44867883)
Except the effort and money needed to be OSA compliant. As the whole enwiki is permissively licensed everyone is welcome to do it though.
Re:Wikimedia Foundation Challenges UK Online Safety Act Regu... by incompatible on Monday August 11, 2025 @06:59PM (#44870416)
Fairly easy, just make it a read-only mirror.
Re:Wikimedia Foundation Challenges UK Online Safety Act Regu... by imtringued on Tuesday August 12, 2025 @12:23PM (#44878470)
It can't be read only because you need infrastructure and editors that review and approve every single change by hand. Even a single accidental violation could get the mirror shut down.
Re:Wikimedia Foundation Challenges UK Online Safety Act Regu... by spauldo on Monday August 11, 2025 @07:27PM (#44870631)
And Wikipedia continues on without having to worry about UK regulations. What's the downside for Wikipedia?
Re:Wikimedia Foundation Challenges UK Online Safety Act Regu... by owisd on Tuesday August 12, 2025 @09:54AM (#44876222)
Anyone suggesting a block doesn't actually want Wikipedia to pull out of the UK, it's a negotiating position to extort concessions.
Re:Wikimedia Foundation Challenges UK Online Safety Act Regu... by spauldo on Tuesday August 12, 2025 @12:49PM (#44878859)
Is it? If the law would prevent Wikipedia from operating in the UK without adding age verification, blocking the UK is just a method of compliance. Organizations like the EFF want to strike down laws like this, but Wikipedia exists to operate a freely editable encyclopedia.

It's really down to whether Wikipedia feels that compliance would go against the organization's principles. If so, blocking the UK is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. If another organization steps in to mirror Wikipedia in a way that complies with UK law, there's no downside for Wikipedia - they maintain their principles and the UK continues to have at least some access to free information.