Last week, it was STEAM that decided to “steamroll” any anime, ecchi, or hentai content that goes against NEW policies.
Policies, by the way, that have been set out by Mastercard, Visa, and other gatekeeping payment processors who are overstepping their bounds.
But today, this time around, it’s the UK government that’s also abusing its power on a much larger scale.
The UK Online Safety Act
QUOTE:
“Britains online safety act took effect no July 25th,2025, requiring online platforms to implement age verification measures to protect children from harmful content.
The law mandates strict checks, such as ID uploads or facial scans, for sites hosting adult material,with fines up to 10% of global turnover for non-compliance.”
This seemingly NEW law has been in the works since 2023, going through many phases before finally being published and enforced on July 25h 2025.
OFCOM, the UK regulator for media content, websites, TV, entertainment, and the like, will be the ones enforcing these rules. With the government putting a gun to the back of their head, of course, to make sure they bring down the full weight of the law on anyone they see as “harmful” or problematic (in terms of content).
What does this mean for hentai, doujinshi, and content judged as “harmful”?
As we all know in the anime industry at large, there has always been a targeted effort to:
- censor.
- Shutdown.
- Monitor.
- Shadowban.
And make sweeping statements against anime even when the content is wholesome, pure, innocent, and child friendly (overwhelmingly).
Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms have proven this.
But with the UK Online Safety Act in particular, those viewing content from the UK via:
- Social media.
- Websites.
- Streaming services.
And especially:
- Doujinshi sites.
- Hentai.
- Ecchi.
- Even “fanservice”.
Or lewd content will be forced to:
- Comply.
- Self censor.
- Obey.
Or in defence, platforms (including Anime Motivation) will have to:
- Ban UK ip addresses from accessing the website.
- Or face a hefty fine even if you’re operating outside of the UK.
This can be summarised in a quote:
“While there’s no explicit clause banning anime-style content, the combination of broad definitions, platform liability, and governmental override powers results in a climate where self-censorship and soft censorship are incentivized, particularly on global platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Discord, or WordPress blogs.”
So any content like the image of Lala Satalin above, if viewed by UK IP addresses, will have to be BANNED by platforms and websites, or self-censorship will be the alternative method.
Of course, there is also ignoring the law altogether and hoping you either don’t get noticed or get away with it, or implement some strategy to avoid legal accountability. But outside of that, this is the new reality.
It also means ADULT GAMES, regardless of where you buy them from, will also face scrutiny and force UK citizens to upload a scan of their face, further violating your rights to privacy.
Websites that have already made announcements due to the NEW UK Law
Rule 34 has already made a statement due to the NEW law that’s in effect.
And of course, Pornhub has also implemented new rules according to the law.
The UK Online Safety Act will encourage VPN usage to spike
In Proton VPN’s own words:
“Just a few minutes after the Online Safety Act went into effect last night, Proton VPN signups originating in the UK surged by more than 1,400%.
Unlike previous surges, this one is sustained, and is significantly higher than when France lost access to adult content.”
The same is about to happen for:
- NordVPN.
- ExpressVPN.
And any other popular or used VPN across the board, not just for porn by the way, but for ANY content deemed “harmful”, even when it’s perfectly legal and sound, which WILL happen.
It’s only a matter of time.
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Why Anime Fanservice Offends So Many Westerners
