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Forum with 2.6M posts being deleted due to UK Online Safety Act

forums.hexus.net

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Re: Forum with 2.6M posts being deleted due to UK Online Safety Act

#22

Post by throw_m239339 »

pmdr wrote: post #16
massifgreat wrote: post #11

These UK laws might boost Tor usage.. let's hope something good will come from the full censorship political tyranny in Europe.

I doubt it. I think these laws were made to herd users towards big tech's established platforms that are 'policed' by community guidelines deemed 'appropriate' and where the content is never more than a takedown request away. Welcome to the new internet. (and it's funny how everyone's yelling 'fascist' at whatever happens in the US instead)

Right, it is called Regulatory Capture, because big actors have the means to comply.

Re: Forum with 2.6M posts being deleted due to UK Online Safety Act

#23

Post by jszymborski »

smarx007 wrote: post #19

Could someone please shed any light on why simply geoblocking the UK in its entirety would not be sufficient for an average forum to avoid having to deal with the Act? A lot of US websites initially geoblocked EU to avoid dealing with GDPR, for example.

Other comments here have suspected its audience might be primarily UK-based, so geoblocking might not be the best option.

I'm also not familiar with UK law, which may or may not deem that be a sufficient counter-measure against VPNs. Also, if the forum's operator is based in the UK this also might not be an option.

Re: Forum with 2.6M posts being deleted due to UK Online Safety Act

#24

Post by tehjoker »

pmdr wrote: post #16
massifgreat wrote: post #11

These UK laws might boost Tor usage.. let's hope something good will come from the full censorship political tyranny in Europe.

I doubt it. I think these laws were made to herd users towards big tech's established platforms that are 'policed' by community guidelines deemed 'appropriate' and where the content is never more than a takedown request away. Welcome to the new internet. (and it's funny how everyone's yelling 'fascist' at whatever happens in the US instead)

they were alarmed they lost what used to be tight control of media narratives around e.g. the gaza genocide and are working overtime to concentrate control so it doesn't happen again

let it be known the UK used its carve out territory in Cyprus to process bomb shipments to the IDF in furtherance of a genocide

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/15/uk-bases-in-cyprus-...

Re: Forum with 2.6M posts being deleted due to UK Online Safety Act

#28

Post by nickdothutton »

Anyone* would be crazy to run a UK-based or somewhat UK-centric forum today. Whether it be for a hobby, profession, or just social interaction. The government doesn’t perceive these sites as having any value (they don't employ people or generate corporation tax).

[*] Unless you are a multibillion $ company with an army of moderators, compliance people, lawyers.

Re: Forum with 2.6M posts being deleted due to UK Online Safety Act

#30

Post by tremon »

ziddoap wrote: post #20
smarx007 wrote: post #19

Could someone please shed any light on why simply geoblocking the UK in its entirety would not be sufficient for an average forum to avoid having to deal with the Act? A lot of US websites initially geoblocked EU to avoid dealing with GDPR, for example.

In this particular case, the forum is UK-based (" HEXUS is a UK-based technology reporting and reviews website founded by David Ross in 2000 ") In other non-UK-based cases, geo-blocking is the answer being used by some people. Per https://geoblockthe.uk/ , they state: " Luckily OFCOM (the UK Government department responsible for 'enforcement' of these new rules) have confirmed that blocking people in the UK from acce…

Would be great if services like e.g. Wikipedia would do exactly that.

"This website is not available in the UK. Ask your representative about the UK Online Safety Act for more information".

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