Didn't the Stretford End crowd used to sing this once upon a time ?
( I hasten to add, I've never been to O.T.)
Strange reaction
( I hasten to add, I've never been to O.T.)
Legal Compliance and Thread Closures
I have deliberately avoided getting into a back-and-forth with a small minority of posters over this issue, but some of the recent comments aimed at myself and the moderation team have crossed the line and cannot go unanswered.
For the last six months I have been researching this matter extensively. I have sought advice from the Football Supporters’ Association, XenForo, other large online communities, and independent legal sources.
As @Sepp Blatter has already said, the UK Online Safety Act 2023 is poorly drafted and extremely difficult for community-run forums like ours to navigate. We are treated in law exactly the same as giant commercial platforms like Facebook, YouTube, X/Twitter, and Pornhub there are no carve-outs for volunteer-run fan sites.
On top of that, GDPR obligations make it more complicated, and the legislation has no “real world” case law yet to guide us. But until it is successfully challenged in court or via judicial review, it is the law and we have no choice but to comply.
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Why this matters for PNE Online
Under the Online Safety Act, site owners and operators have a legal duty of care to prevent the publication or persistence of illegal content. This includes:
Incitement to racial hatred (Public Order Act 1986, Part III)
Incitement to religious hatred (Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006)
Content likely to encourage terrorism or violence (Terrorism Act 2006)
Threats of serious harm (Online Safety Act 2023, Section 181)
While individual posters are responsible for their own comments, the legal liability can also fall on the site owner if illegal content is not acted upon promptly once it is identified or reported. If we fail to remove it, I could personally face civil or criminal proceedings. That could mean the end of PNE Online and potentially the end of my career.
We have already raised the minimum registration age to 18 to reduce risk not because we wanted to, but because legally we had no choice.
Our approach
We have always been more than a football forum our mental health section existed long before it was “the thing” and I value the wide-ranging discussions in the Current Affairs section. But the reality is that we have received:
Direct legal complaints about specific posts
External concerns (including from outside our user base) about racist and hateful content
Internal moderation reviews identifying threads with content that, in legal terms, could breach one or more of the above laws
We gave repeated warnings, temporarily closed the section, and asked users to self-moderate. Unfortunately, some content still crossed legal lines.
After taking further paid legal advice (out of my own pocket), we had two choices:
1. Close the section entirely, or
2. Remove specific threads that presented the highest legal risk.
We chose the least disruptive option — close only the problem threads, explain why, and move on.
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Moving forward
Any new posts or threads that breach UK law or our Terms & Conditions will be removed.
Users who persist despite warnings may have their access restricted or accounts closed.
This is not censorship, cowardice, or “clown behaviour” it is responsible forum ownership, protecting our members, our volunteers, and the existence of the site itself.
PNE Online has been running for 21 years. I intend it to be here for another 21, but that means sometimes making decisions that not everyone will like. The PNE in our name the football sections will always remain protected. If you want to debate certain highly contentious subjects, please do so elsewhere.
I will be disappointed if anyone ends their patronage over this, but I will respect that choice. My responsibility, first and foremost, is to keep the forum legal, safe, and alive.
Many Thanks
JK
I have deliberately avoided getting into a back-and-forth with a small minority of posters over this issue, but some of the recent comments aimed at myself and the moderation team have crossed the line and cannot go unanswered.
For the last six months I have been researching this matter extensively. I have sought advice from the Football Supporters’ Association, XenForo, other large online communities, and independent legal sources.
As @Sepp Blatter has already said, the UK Online Safety Act 2023 is poorly drafted and extremely difficult for community-run forums like ours to navigate. We are treated in law exactly the same as giant commercial platforms like Facebook, YouTube, X/Twitter, and Pornhub there are no carve-outs for volunteer-run fan sites.
On top of that, GDPR obligations make it more complicated, and the legislation has no “real world” case law yet to guide us. But until it is successfully challenged in court or via judicial review, it is the law and we have no choice but to comply.
---
Why this matters for PNE Online
Under the Online Safety Act, site owners and operators have a legal duty of care to prevent the publication or persistence of illegal content. This includes:
Incitement to racial hatred (Public Order Act 1986, Part III)
Incitement to religious hatred (Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006)
Content likely to encourage terrorism or violence (Terrorism Act 2006)
Threats of serious harm (Online Safety Act 2023, Section 181)
While individual posters are responsible for their own comments, the legal liability can also fall on the site owner if illegal content is not acted upon promptly once it is identified or reported. If we fail to remove it, I could personally face civil or criminal proceedings. That could mean the end of PNE Online and potentially the end of my career.
We have already raised the minimum registration age to 18 to reduce risk not because we wanted to, but because legally we had no choice.
Our approach
We have always been more than a football forum our mental health section existed long before it was “the thing” and I value the wide-ranging discussions in the Current Affairs section. But the reality is that we have received:
Direct legal complaints about specific posts
External concerns (including from outside our user base) about racist and hateful content
Internal moderation reviews identifying threads with content that, in legal terms, could breach one or more of the above laws
We gave repeated warnings, temporarily closed the section, and asked users to self-moderate. Unfortunately, some content still crossed legal lines.
After taking further paid legal advice (out of my own pocket), we had two choices:
1. Close the section entirely, or
2. Remove specific threads that presented the highest legal risk.
We chose the least disruptive option — close only the problem threads, explain why, and move on.
---
Moving forward
Any new posts or threads that breach UK law or our Terms & Conditions will be removed.
Users who persist despite warnings may have their access restricted or accounts closed.
This is not censorship, cowardice, or “clown behaviour” it is responsible forum ownership, protecting our members, our volunteers, and the existence of the site itself.
PNE Online has been running for 21 years. I intend it to be here for another 21, but that means sometimes making decisions that not everyone will like. The PNE in our name the football sections will always remain protected. If you want to debate certain highly contentious subjects, please do so elsewhere.
I will be disappointed if anyone ends their patronage over this, but I will respect that choice. My responsibility, first and foremost, is to keep the forum legal, safe, and alive.
Many Thanks
JK
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Its a very poor law and unlike @Sepp Blatter I dont think its been poorly written, I believe its been deliberately written the way it has with a broad ranging sweep that enables the govt, of the day, to decide what can and cannot be said.
Its something all of us, left, right, religious or no religion, should be standing up and fighting against.
The above post about people sitting with a simple sign being arrested on terrorism charges says everything we need to know. Say something we dont agree with and youre going to be arrested.
The world is turning into a very dangerous place to be.
@JK and the mods literally have no choice but do what theyre doing
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Isn't that a contradiction in terms?..... Which was my whole point..... I'm leaving it at that Phil because none of wants " current affairs " taken down.
Am not going to disagree with that - using 'won't somebody think of the children' as a way to stop debate and artistic expression is a tried and tested tactic. Indirect censorship by encouraging people to self-censor is an insidious way and it is very telling that other governments are moving the same way - and why, as you said, free speech is not about left/right, woke/conservative, or any other divisions. It is a fundamental principle of liberal democracies.
There are many other ways of fighting it - a small football forum trying to buck the trend is not going to make the slightest difference and all that will happen is that it will be closed down. Nobody will notice or care. Pressure to challenge such restrictive laws comes from groups with financial resources, access to expertise, and the ability to make noise/raise publicity. As I tried to tell you a few days ago, but you were too busy accusing people of lacking backbone or supporting censorship, there are many groups organising to do exactly that. This forum is not the be-all and end-all.
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I'm sure you felt the same way back in the day when fighting for animal rights...
Edit/addition..... At what point did you turn into a politician ?..... I never managed it.
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Yes -through protest, various groups, and mass movements, which engaged the media/public and eventually brought new legislation. Exactly the same as is going on with this - protest, mass movements, and groups coming together to challenge the law. That is the way it has always worked.
Interesting that you go in with the accusations again because someone does do exactly what you do. What are you doing to challenge this law, Libs, apart from making noise on a football forum?
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It is - so why do you choose to insult those who are trying to go beyond the forum and grow the debate?
If that is the Tommy Robinson Free Speech rally (checked on Google) then I have no problem with that at all.
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I don't think I've insulted you Sepp... If I did then it wasn't intentional, I just think you got comfortable.
Yaxleys free speech rally will boil a lot of piss... Especially @raefil
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Ive no problem at all with it, as long as hes ok with people using their right of free speech to call him out for the racist twat that he is.
Not really a matter of comfort, Libs - more that I believe in the written word as a way to contribute to change. Not adverse to going out on protests to show solidarity, or direct action, but words always served me better.
I can't stand Yaxley - but he has the same rights to free speech as anyone else. If he is protesting against censorship, then I am onboard with that.
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The difference is, if its removed Im not going to have a tantrum 😉
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