Last month, the United Kingdom implemented new age verification measures under the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA), aimed at protecting the country’s most vulnerable from the dangers of the internet. Its efficacy is still under scrutiny, as this marks only the beginning of the Act’s rollout. In the run-up, there have been significant risk assessments conducted by the UK’s regulator, Ofcom, to determine how certain websites fit into specific categories, namely Category 1, which enforces the strictest adherence to regulations.

Despite this, Wikipedia found itself likely categorized under Category 1—something it’s staunchly opposed. To contest this classification, Wikipedia challenged the UK’s High Court. Unfortunately, their efforts were fruitless as they lost the case today.

However, the court’s decision isn’t the end of the road for Wikipedia. The judge remarked that the ruling does not grant Ofcom and the Secretary of State permission to create a framework that could severely disrupt the operations of Wikipedia. The Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, claims that a strict categorization could necessitate age verification for its millions of users, potentially leading to a block on self-edited users and increasing the risk of vandalism.

“In order to achieve that outcome,” they stated, “a flexible interpretation of the rules by Ofcom will be essential, or the policies may need amending in Parliament.” While today’s ruling isn’t an outright approval for what the regulators wish to impose, it raises significant questions about the future of online platforms that rely heavily on user-generated content.

The ruling does signal that Wikipedia remains valuable to its users, but the future hangs in the balance depending on how regulators react to it.