Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet • Hacker News Board

Re: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet

#101

Post by nebabyte » Fri, May 19, 2017, 12:55 PM UTC

mattkevan wrote: post #41

As a British citizen, this makes me sick to my stomach. However, I'm probably in the minority. A few years ago I went to a debate about the Internet and how it affects families, and it was interesting and rather scary to hear people's attitudes. It seemed that a lot of people didn't fully understand what the Internet was, asking why it didn't have a watershed [1] like TV does. Despite good arguments being put forward…

Thank you. I often find myself in subconscious denial ("oh, surely it's just a fluke and they'll get back on course soon") over news of the direction our British friends are headed, because of the self-affirming echo chamber net communities often form.

I've only ever sometimes heard (but fortunately tried to keep in mind) the fact that the reason for it is that it's not seen as dystopic by the British public, and that they're majority-for the changes being made. (Even though it makes perfect logical sense, the subconscious impulse of denial is still there without hearing "the other side".)

With that said I do hope your fellow citizens can be persuaded to see the value of the internet as an open platform. Censorship works in theory but I think what people want more is the ability for self-censorship; that and censorship of the whole are two radically different things.

If only adblock lists (content subscription in general) were a more common model. You could tell your neighbors they can just "not subscribe to those channels" without affecting others. Hmm

Re: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet

#102

Post by discombobulate » Fri, May 19, 2017, 12:56 PM UTC

I'm not sure how long it's going to take for people to realise: the government is not your friend. They don't want to help you. They want to control you. You are their property. You are registered and you are farmed. Like animals.

Ask them nicely to stop, and they well smile back and reply 'think of the children'. Behind their dead eyes are the schemes used to enrich themselves at your expense. Rule after rule applied. Each more insidious than the last.

Welcome to dystopia. Enjoy your stay.

Re: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet

#103

Post by Retr0spectrum » Fri, May 19, 2017, 12:57 PM UTC

kbart wrote: post #55

basisword wrote: post #36

As much as I expect nanny-state behaviour from the Tory's this has blown me away. I thought the author may be exaggerating so I went and actually read the manifesto. It's only about one page near the end but it reads like something you'd expect from a dictatorial regime. It seems like after cutting us off from Europe via Brexit the government now wants to cut us off from the rest of the world. I just hope internet co…

"I just hope internet companies stand up the UK and refuse to do business here." I wouldn't bet my money on it, since UK ISP companies were quite happy following government's agenda (see porn filter and Internet history collection).

My current ISP (ask4) doesn't filter any of the sites that they're supposed to. I can't comment on the history collection, of course. This is not a recommendation of ask4 however - the connection is relatively unreliable and slow/oversubscribed.

Re: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet

#104

Post by paradite » Fri, May 19, 2017, 12:57 PM UTC

viraptor wrote: post #99

paradite wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to my observations now here in China, your stats are wrong. Edit: Just to substantiate, many people I spoke to vaguely know what they would see if they get unfiltered internet, so there's not really much motivation to bypass GFW.

Sorry, but this is an anecdote. Do you have a source that shows some usage? I'd love to see that, whichever side it agrees with, but personal experiences rarely generalises to nations.

Interestingly with censorship being such a sensitive topic in China, it's hard to find statistics on VPN usage rate. I will just say that I'm a Chinese citizen who visits China regularly every year. My impressions can't be too far off from the actual stats.

Re: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet

#105

Post by hysan » Fri, May 19, 2017, 12:57 PM UTC

I wonder what's her stance towards the Great Firewall? This seems like the first few steps towards building something similar to it. It's quite scary to think that governments are slowly becoming more like China recently.

Re: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet

#106

Post by nebabyte » Fri, May 19, 2017, 12:58 PM UTC

panglott wrote: post #49

kristianc wrote: post #7

It does make me laugh as a British citizen when the government touts the use of evidence-based frameworks and its ' nudge' unit and then employs a blunt instrument such as this which is purely legislative and flies in the face of all available evidence. Since the advent of the internet and the accompanying rise of internet porn, sexual irresponsibility, teen sex, rape and divorce have all been in decline. That's to s…

The Great Firewall works amazingly well, if not perfectly well. It is a little leaky at the edges, but certainly influences how a very large proportion of Chinese users experience the Internet.

Yup. The goal of TGF is suppression, not complete shutout. By most accounts it unfortunately does a really good job of that.

Re: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet

#107

Post by throwanem » Fri, May 19, 2017, 12:59 PM UTC

timecube wrote: post #93

Pigo wrote: post #78

I must admit I thought it was going to be about SJW types wanting to free us from harmful independent thought. I was surprised, but then I don't have a lot of context for British political parties.

Turns out that in the real world, conservatives are far more dangerous for your freedoms than "SJW types".

I don't like the "SJW" metaphor, but that said, there's really nothing to choose between those so described and their opposite numbers on the other side of the Assemblée Nationale. Different as the ends they profess to prefer may be, they eventually converge upon very similar means. Those of us with qualms about consequentialism find this unsettling.

Re: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet

#108

Post by gerjomarty » Fri, May 19, 2017, 1:00 PM UTC

I really don't like where these manifesto pledges are going, and there isn't really much we can do at the moment to stop a Tory majority, going on the current polling numbers (yes, I know polls can be deceiving).

I think the only way we can combat this in people's minds is to come up with concrete examples of how it will adversely affect their privacy or daily Internet routines.

Re: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet

#109

Post by rainforest » Fri, May 19, 2017, 1:01 PM UTC

sjclemmy wrote: post #90

I am as left wing and anti-authoritarian as they come. I read the digital bit in their manifesto and I don't see what all the fuss is about. It's simply stating the laws of the land should be respected and reflected in the online landscape. What's wrong with that? Britain is a deeply divided, but pluralist country, where the majority are conservative. This is broadly in line with what I would expect that majority to…

They challenge the long-held idea that people on the internet are capable of dealing with things they don't like or the government wouldn't like them to see. They also remove the need for there to be a victim of a crime.

I see a lot of discourse on the internet in the same way it happens in a pub. There are very little boundaries to the beliefs someone admits to sharing, and presence of a regulator to check that nothing illegal is being discussed doesn't sit right.

Re: Theresa May Wants To Regulate The Internet

#110

Post by lb1lf » Fri, May 19, 2017, 1:05 PM UTC

corford wrote: post #45

Retr0spectrum wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which country did you leave to? I'd like to get out of here ASAP.

Suggest you pick one in Europe while it's still easy to do :) I think most EU countries let you apply for full citizenship after being there a while (e.g. France lets you apply after 5 yrs, less if you're married to a French national).

What about Scotland? (I am serious!)

While we're veering OT fast, I really can't see Scotland staying in the Union once Brexit is complete.

There's still going to be strong ties with England, given all the toing and froing over the centuries - so I'd expect it to be quite easy for someone English to stay in Scotland almost regardless of what deal is eventually cut with the rest of the EU.