Another free speech watchdog has slammed the UK government’s proposed law for tackling online abuse, warning that it will effectively ban run-of-the-mill conversations online that remain legal on the street. A report by Big Brother Watch published on Sept. 5 (pdf) says that free speech online is already shrinking in the name of preventing harm, and that the proposed Online Safety Bill will make it worse. The draft bill aims to protect adults and children from both illegal and legal “harms” online, and has been described by both critics and supporters as the most ambitious attempt to regulate the Internet in the free world. It would empower broadcast regulator Ofcom to fine and even block tech companies for violating the rules. “We’ve exposed how, over recent years, social media companies have adopted increasingly censorious speech standards,” said Mark Johnson, legal and policy officer at Big Brother Watch, commenting in a statement on the …