US social media company gab.com has decided to withdraw from the UK by banning access from UK IP addresses.
They refuse to comply with OFCOM and make user data available to the UK Government.
If one tries to access the site this message appears;
Geffers
The UK's Online Safety Act is bringing down so many websites and now large websites are making the difficult decision to not serve the UK market due to this OSA. I honestly don't blame Gab for doing this as the fines are so large and subjective. I'm sad though for the UK resident's that have lost access. I keep hoping the UK online overlords will see the effects of their act that's supposed to protect children, but instead forcing many websites to shutter instead that likely provided nice communities for people.
I am doubtful change will occur, politicians nowadays will not admit to policy failure, they appear to double down if things don't work.
The problem is, critics look at the extreme end of sites like that, if they do not censor of course you will get radical opinions voiced by many, that is the price of free speech. Complicated issues like medics, climate or any science based opinions will divide views, just because one view is in the minority does not mean it is wrong, many scientist once believed the Sun orbited the Earth.
I do agree that if a view is different from the general narrative view, it doesn't mean the view is wrong, it only means it's a view that's not falling in line with the current ideologues.