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Online Safety Bill age checks won’t be done by Wikipedia


According to its foundation, Wikipedia will not submit to any age verifications mandated by the Online Safety Bill.

It would "violate our commitment to collect minimal data about readers and contributors," according to Rebecca MacKinnon of the Wikimedia Foundation, which sponsors the website.

A senior member of Wikimedia UK is concerned that the website might be blocked as a result.

However, according to the government, only services that pose the greatest risk to children will require age verification.

There are millions of entries on Wikipedia, created and edited by tens of thousands of volunteers from all over the world in hundreds of different languages.


According to information from analytics company SimilarWeb, it is the seventh most popular website in the UK.

The Online Safety Bill, which is presently before Parliament, will completely take effect sometime in 2024 and requires digital companies to safeguard users from harmful or illegal information.

According to Neil Brown, a lawyer who specialises in internet and telecoms law, the bill requires services that kids are likely to access to have "proportionate systems and processes" in place to shield them from dangerous information. This can involve confirming your age.


If a service violates the law, there may be severe repercussions, such as hefty fines, criminal charges against senior workers, or restrictions on access to a service in the UK.

Because of the Bill and the possibility that it may require age checks, Wikimedia UK is concerned that the website may be disabled.




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