Following hard on the heels of Bitchute’s decision to block visitors from the UK, the Facebook alternative Gab has also decided to pull up the drawbridge and abandon Britain. UK visitors to Gab will now only see a page with the heading “This domain has been blocked for UK visitors”, along with Gab’s explanation.
UK visitors can expect more platforms to follow suit as Britain’s Tories and now Starmer’s Labour try and shut down free speech on the internet. Remember that Facebook banned anyone posting sceptical views about Covid-19 and vaccines, views that eventually were proven correct.
China has blocked access to the search engine Google for several reasons, primarily due to the country’s contentious ‘Great Firewall’ and stringent censorship policies. The Chinese government exercises rigorous control over the internet, ensuring that any content deemed critical of the Chinese Communist Party or politically sensitive is effectively screened and blocked.
The reason for the shutdown is the UK’s new Online Safety Act, which passed into law on 26 October 2023. The Act was supposed to protect children and adults online, but critics argue that its main aim is to silence dissent and clamp down on free speech. Racial Nationalist groups will be particularly affected, as they are often already banned from the more mainstream (controlled) social media outlets and have to rely on the smaller platforms.
According to Ofcom, “The illegal content duties are now in effect, and as of 17 March (2025), Ofcom can now take action to enforce its guidelines. Ofcom will have powers to take action against companies which do not follow their new duties. Companies can be fined up to £18 million or 10 percent of their qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. Criminal action can be taken against senior managers who fail to ensure companies follow information requests from Ofcom.
“The Act gives Ofcom the powers they need to take appropriate action against all companies in scope, no matter where they are based, where services have relevant links with the UK. This means services with a significant number of UK users or where UK users are a target market, as well as other services which have in-scope content that presents a risk of significant harm to people in the UK.”
“The Online Safety Act takes a proportionate approach to mis- and disinformation by focusing on addressing the greatest risks of harm to users, whilst protecting freedom of expression.”
Gab and Bitchute are still available to UK viewers, providing they use a VPN to change their IP address. Visitors to the Gab site are greeted by the following statement:
Access Restricted by Provider
After receiving yet another demand from the UK’s speech police, Ofcom, Gab has made the decision to block the entire United Kingdom from accessing our website.
This latest email from Ofcom ordered us to disclose information about our users and operations. We know where this leads: compelled censorship and British citizens thrown in jail for “hate speech.” We refuse to comply with this tyranny.
Gab is an American company with zero presence in the UK. Ofcom’s demands have no legal force here. To enforce anything in the United States, they’d need to go through a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request or letters rogatory. No U.S. court is going to enforce a foreign censorship regime. The First Amendment forbids it.
Ofcom will likely try to make an example of us anyway. That’s because the UK’s Online Safety Act isn’t about protecting children. It’s about suppressing dissent.
They’re welcome to try. The idea that a British regulator can pressure a U.S. company that’s IP-blocking the entire UK is as farcical as it is futile. If anything, it proves our point: censorship doesn’t work. It only reveals the truth about the censors.
We proudly join platforms like Bitchute in boycotting the United Kingdom. American companies should follow suit. The power of the UK’s parliament ends where the First Amendment begins.
The only way to vote against the tyranny of the UK’s present regime is to walk away from it, refuse to comply, and take refuge under the impervious shelter of the First Amendment.
The UK’s rulers want their people kept in the dark. Let them see how long the public tolerates it as their Internet vanishes, one website at a time.
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Main Image: Stock Image.
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