Dear FlowGPT users in the UK,
We’d like to take this opportunity to explain the reasons behind an important and difficult decision: FlowGPT will temporarily suspend access to users located in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).
This decision is not one we make lightly, nor is it something we initiated voluntarily. It is a direct consequence of the UK’s Online Safety Act, which officially came into effect on July 24, 2025. This new law introduces extremely demanding compliance obligations for any platform offering interactive online services in the UK. FlowGPT is currently unable to meet these requirements without exposing our team to significant legal and operational risks.
⚖️ What exactly does the law require?
We fully support the original intent of the Online Safety Act—to protect users online, especially children, and to combat illegal content.
However, in practice, the law applies a one-size-fits-all regulatory framework that treats all platforms—regardless of size, business model, or functionality—as if they were tech giants.Some of the key obligations include:
- Mandatory risk assessment and prevention systems: Platforms must proactively identify the risks of illegal content appearing on their service—even if such content has never appeared before—and take measures in product design and platform architecture to mitigate those risks.
- Strict age verification systems: Self-declaration of age is not enough; platforms must implement robust age checks, such as biometric or government-issued ID verification, which are costly and technically complex.
- Severe legal liability:
- Companies that fail to comply may face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global revenue, whichever is greater.
- Company executives may face personal criminal prosecution and even prison sentences for non-compliance.
This is not about unwillingness to comply. It is about whether it’s realistically possible for a lean, independent platform to meet these requirements at all.
🚫 Why this leaves us with no safe option
After extensive review of the legislation and its enforcement roadmap, we concluded:
- There is no clear exemption for small platforms: Although the law references “proportionality,” it still requires all platforms—regardless of scale—to perform core compliance tasks, such as illegal content risk assessments and child safety obligations.
- No allowance based on feature complexity: If a service includes any form of user interaction or could reasonably be accessed by children, it is subject to the full scope of the Act.
- Compliance is high-cost and high-risk:
- Tasks like age verification, system audits, and legal reviews demand substantial ongoing investment.
- Any ambiguity in implementation carries the risk of financial penalties.
- In the worst-case scenario, team members could be held personally liable under criminal law.
Given these realities, continuing to operate in the UK would expose our team to unacceptable risk. Suspending UK access is currently the only responsible path forward.
🇬🇧 What this means for UK users
Starting from July 24, 2025:
- Users accessing FlowGPT from UK IP addresses will be blocked;
- Your accounts and content will not be deleted;
- Any previously generated content will remain accessible from outside the UK;
- If regulations change or we gain the capacity to comply, we will work to restore access as soon as possible.
🌍 Why this deeply concerns us
To our UK users — thank you. Your creativity, engagement, and thoughtful contributions have made the FlowGPT community richer and more vibrant. We’re truly grateful to have you with us — it’s hard to imagine the FlowGPT community without you, even for a short time.
At the same time, this situation raises a larger concern: Are modern regulatory systems capable of accommodating innovation from small, diverse, and independent platforms?
When only a handful of tech giants can afford to comply, the internet risks becoming closed off—more centralized, less diverse, and less open to new ideas. That’s a future we don’t want to accept.
❤️ A final word
We hope this decision sparks broader awareness of how laws like the Online Safety Act impact not just platforms, but the entire digital ecosystem and the internet community we’re all part of. We also hope to join other creators, developers, and users in using public channels—industry media, open forums, and community platforms—to voice the need for regulation that balances safety and openness.
FlowGPT has no intention of giving up on its users, nor on the UK. This pause is temporary—and we truly believe we’ll meet again.
Sincerely,
The FlowGPT Team
The FlowGPT Team
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