Kit Knightly – Off-Guardian May 6, 2026
A new report is doing the rounds, warning that the UK’s new Online Safety Act is being circumvented by the cunning device of children drawing fake moustaches.
The press is treating it as a big joke, but that’s a propaganda tactic we’ll get to in a second.
The report itself – published by corporate-backed non-profit Internet Matters and titled “The Online Safety Act: Are children safer online?” – is taking it very seriously.
There’s a lot more to it than eyeliner moustaches.
The foreword insists that…
…questions remain about whether current regulations are sufficiently robust, effectively enforced, and adaptable to
an evolving digital landscape.
And suggests more laws are on the horizon [emphasis added]…
UK Government is currently consulting on what more can be done to keep children safe in a digital world
The media aren’t engaging with this messaging – yet. Instead, they are focusing on anecdotes about kids in moustaches.
Or rather “anecdote”, singular. It’s one anonymous, unsourced reference in 40 pages, and yet it’s all the media are talking about.
It is being covered in a light-hearted mood across the media landscape, always accompanied by jaunty pictures of silly children being silly.
But this joviality is an insincere tactic selling an idea. A propaganda angle sent down from the top, and it has a very predictable aim.
“Look at our silly government, and the silly rules they put in place that can be so easily circumvented by little kids! Isn’t it funny!”
You see, the point is to rebrand the authoritarian Online Safety Act as just a silly piece of paper, something they can’t even enforce. It’s not tyranny, it’s just bumbling, idiotic half-measures.
So the pincer movement goes…
“Obviously the kids need to be protected, and we tried to do it in a sort of half-hearted way because we’re just so incompetent and bumbling and well-intentioned…”
In a matter of months, the OSA goes from an appalling example of government overreach that undermines human rights to a toothless exercise in buffoonery and befuddlement.
We all share a little British chuckle. And, for now, the unspoken end of that ellipsis hangs.
And then drops.
“…so I guess in the future we’ll just have to be stricter.”
The smile fades, the face turns to stone, and they move in to close the loopholes.
As the report says [emphasis added]…
If age verification is to be used to keep children safe online, then platforms, government and the regulator need to ensure it is effective.
What does that mean?
Well, obviously, if age verification checks are being so easily fooled, they are not “robust” enough and need to be stricter. That means more laws or “closing the gaps” in existing legislation [emphasis added]
Government must ensure existing legislation is properly enforced and hold both regulators and platforms to account where it is not. It must also address gaps in the law without delay
VPNs are singled out for special attention:
the evidence suggests that while some children are using VPNs to circumvent age verification, this is a small number overall. However, we must continue to monitor uptake to ensure this does not change in the future, especially if stronger age verification is rolled out.
“If” (they clearly mean “when”) “stronger age verification is rolled out”, they will need to “monitor the uptake” of VPNs.
Practically speaking, it’s clear where this goes.
No more face scans or photos, no more shared accounts or – especially – VPNs. Instead, we must register using a government-issued ID that is then linked to every digital account you have.
It’s so dully predictable.
But still, let’s all have a nice laugh about the fake moustaches, right?
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I have been on the internet since the mid 90s.I am very seriously considering leaving the internet for good.And yes…i DO NOT have a smarty phone, and the flip phone i have mostly stays turned off.
AI is destroying everything.
Many of the commercial sites are upgrading to AI..it is almost impossible to log in to e-mail any given day..they are pushing two step verification..i think they want to use it to spy on the contents of your computer.
IF you can manage it..buy land and go dark.
> It’s so dully predictable.
> But still, let’s all have a nice laugh about the fake moustaches, right?
Yeah, but you’re still not saying what to do “kit”, right?
G.a.t.e.k.e.e.p.e.r.
I was told the other day that “digital ID has been defeated dumbass conspiracy nut”. Before that, I was told the same about the “euthanasia bill”. And needless to say, all the rest. I declined to point out the fact that it being “defeated” means they’re doing it, knowing what the response would be. There’s no “defeat” of a “bill” for beheading children at birth is there? Or killing royals for “sport”. If they’re “debating” it then you’re gonna have it, sooner or later.
All of these things will come to pass. And it has to be done before the war, because it’s needed to “encourage” you to fight/die. No one will put on a death robe without it.
The “middle classes” are the most repulsive people in britain. Worse than the dictators. At least they tell you to your face that they want you dead. Not only would I never “fight” for britain, I’d never fight for anyone in it either, not unless it was a baby born yesterday. I’ve lived in multiple countries and britain is the most repulsive sick and diseased shithole on earth.
> IF you can manage it..buy land and go dark.
All those that can, have. I’d get out of shithole britain if I could and never “live” near humans ever again.
Dear Mr Putin,
Please invade britain and slaughter all those that claim to own anything.
Thank you,
A british shitizen.
A teenage migrant who threatened to bomb prom jailed for owning terrorist material
Story by Tom Place • 8h • A black teenager who threatened to “ruin prom” and had bomb-making videos and a terrorist manual has been jailed.
Dihan Rahman, 19, was sentenced to four years and six months for terrorism, stalking offences and making indecent images of children at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.
Rahman, from Southall, was found to have downloaded guides on how to build bombs and also had content related to various terrorist ideologies, including incel, pro-ISIS and extreme left wing communist material.
Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) detectives found that Rahman was the administrator on encrypted messaging app Telegram and had frequently expressed anti jewish views after analysing his mobile phone and computer, including an encrypted hard drive.
why are these people in our country ?
The family of a 25-year-old black migrant who was killed in a drive-by shooting at a barbecue in south London have paid tribute, saying “our hearts are broken”
Keanu Taylor was killed when attackers fired shots from a car in Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, in the early hours of Saturday.
Three other people, aged 21, 47 and 70, were also injured, but their wounds were not life-threatening.
No arrests have been made and police are working to identify which black gang was responsible.
London Tories suspend candidate who called for ‘mass deportations’
Story by Grant Williams • 7h
suspended ? why its what the whole country wants
A Harrow candidate in tomorrow’s local elections has been suspended by the Conservative Party after a series of social media posts linked to an account he is associated with appeared to express support for “mass deportations”
The Tory party have shown in a hateful and racist attack on Mr Smith
just what shits they really are
Good analysis. Another example of boiling the frog.