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easytiger | 7 months ago

> This law sucks for so many reasons, and is inane, but the risk to micro-bloggers of £18M+ fines is, in reality, nil.

A little naivety methinks. You should say rather

... the risk to micro-bloggers of £18M+ fines is, in reality, nil. ...should the bloggers not publish opinions contrary to the state and its current objectives.

discuss

order

hermitcrab|7 months ago

I am cynical as the next guy. However, I think the UK government is just trying to protect people (children in particular) from what it considers harmful content. They are just being heavy-handed about it.

The previous and current UK government have also been steadily hacking away at UK citizen's right to peaceful protest. But I think that it is a different issue, and it doesn't help to conflate the two.

easytiger|7 months ago

However, I think the UK government is just trying to protect people (children in particular) from what it considers harmful content.

I can't come close to agreeing. The same minister pushing this, who is by his own admission semi literate and can't understand very basic concepts, has basically no understanding of technology (or indeed expertise in any area), has made no secret of the fact this is about censoring online speech he personally does not like[1]. He is a paid up yes man deep in the pockets of companies selling low effort AI solutions to governments for the purposes of enforcing speech[2] who wants, all said and done, to shut down twitter/X because people express opinions there he doesn't like. This has almost literally nothing to do with the old fashioned pearl clutching "think of the children". So much so he's going around holding anyone with reasonable opposition to this bill for child sexual assault, future, past and present[3]. This is obvious overcompensatory zeal. And it is week one.

What he has not done is engage earnestly with legitimate concerns about privacy and the bill. And he never will.

[1] https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/labour-peter-ky... | https://archive.is/Snw7y

[2] https://news.starknakedbrief.co.uk/p/we-need-to-talk-about-s...

[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgery3eeqzxo

yawpitch|7 months ago

> I am cynical as the next guy.

Hold my beer.