Wikimedia Foundation takes legal action, claiming that UK regulations 'destroy' Wikipedia
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The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, has filed a legal challenge to the UK's legislation, which aims to restrict harmful content related to illegal drugs, child sexual abuse, terrorism, and other topics. The legislation extends to Wikipedia, arguing that the free encyclopedia could expose it to tampering and vandalism.
Wikimedia Foundation brings legal challenges to new UK Online Safety Act requirements – Diff
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/08/wikimedia-foundation-brings-legal-challenge-to-new-uk-online-safety-act-requirements/
Wikipedia's Nonprofit Host Brings Legal Challenge to New Online Safety Act (OSA) Regulations | by Wikimedia Foundation Policy | Wikimedia Foundation Policy | May, 2025 | Medium
https://medium.com/wikimedia-policy/wikipedias-nonprofit-host-brings-legal-challenge-to-new-online-safety-act-osa-regulations-0f9153102f29
Wikipedia challenging UK law it says exposes it to 'manipulation and vandalism' | Wikipedia | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/may/08/wikipedia-challenging-uk-law-it-says-exposes-it-to-manipulation-and-vandalism
In the UK, the Online Safety Act, which aims to protect children's safety on the internet, was passed in 2023 and has been implemented in stages since that same year.
However,
Wikipedia and human rights groups oppose amendments to the Online Safety Bill that would impose prison sentences on company executives who fail to protect children online - GIGAZINE
The Online Safety Act was launched without much discussion, but in February 2025, an amendment to the law was passed by Parliament to further specify its regulations, and it is now highly likely that Wikipedia will be classified as 'Category 1,' the most strict category.
'Category 1' is a classification designed for large commercial platforms and social media platforms with widespread public impact, and requires companies to comply with burdensome compliance regulations such as verifying user identities and blocking anonymous users from posting articles.
If these measures were applied to Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation argued, they could undermine the safety and privacy of Wikipedia's volunteer editors, and could lead to articles being altered or destroyed by diverting resources that could be better spent on protecting and improving content.
As an example of how vague the criteria are, the Wikimedia Foundation states that even a user's selection of the ' Picture of the Day ' on Wikipedia's homepage could fall under the category of 'content recommendation system,' one of the requirements for Category 1 classification.
The judicial review, filed in the UK High Court, does not challenge the Online Safety Act itself, but rather the proposed amendments that will determine how Category 1 platforms are designated.
'We took action to protect Wikipedia's volunteer users and the global access and integrity of free knowledge,' Phil Bradley-Schmig, lead counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation, said of the lawsuit seeking judicial review of the categorization rules.
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