35,000 ways to harass women, Wikipedia pushes back and Stoll turns source
Hello and welcome to Everything in Moderation's Week in Review, your need-to-know news and analysis about platform policy, content moderation and internet regulation. It's written by me, Ben Whitelaw and supported by members like you.
This week's T&S Insider got a lot of you talking about what it means to be someone responsible for keeping people safe online in 2025. With last week's Ghanaian whistleblower story (EiM #291) and the major BPO layoffs announced this week, it’s clear that not everyone in the industry feels equally empowered or supported.
We're taking a break from Ctrl-Alt-Speech this week as Mike is at a conference. But you can still catch up on last week's episode and use the time to leave a literary-themed review (or frankly any review, they all help massively).
This is your Week in Review for the last seven days — BW
The wait is over — tickets are now available for All Things in Moderation (ATIM) 2025, the go-to global event for anyone working to create safer, more inclusive, and better-governed online spaces.
Taking place over two packed days (15–16 May), this year’s programme includes:
- Cutting-edge approaches to moderation and governance
- Key regulatory shifts affecting digital platforms
- Strategies for protecting younger users online
- Rethinking community in the age of platform dominance
…and plenty more.
If you’re involved in online communities, trust & safety, tech policy, or product design — or simply care about the internet’s future — ATIM is the place to be.
Policies
New and emerging internet policy and online speech regulation
The Wikipedia Foundation has issued a rare and direct rebuke of the UK’s Online Safety Act, warning that its categorisation as high risk could threaten its whole model. In a blogpost reported by The Verge, it argued that “the most burdensome compliance obligations” should not be applied to a site read by “someone reading an online encyclopaedia article about a historical figure or cultural landmark”. Lead counsel Phil Bradley-Schmieg also argued that the OSA category 1 duties could “undermine the privacy and safety of Wikipedia volunteers”.
Meanwhile in Brussels, the European Commission has taken legal action against Poland, in part for failing to designate a Digital Services Co-ordinator (DSC) under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The central European country was given an initial deadline of February 2024 and warnings thereafter Four other countries — Cyprus, Spain, Portugal and Czechia — have appointed DSCs but failed to “entrust them with the necessary powers” meaning they too will be referred to the European Court of Justice.