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VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

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Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#31

Post by ChrisKnott »

thdhhghgbhy wrote: post #28

The new online safety rules are already being used to shut down government criticism. How it works is their new elite protection squad, if someone is deigned an influential critic of government policy, trawls through your social media posts until they find something against the laws. A lot of government critique is coming from the working class here now, who have virtually no political representation in the UK. As yo…

Do you have any examples of people being arrested for criticising a law?

Most of the time these dystopian descriptions of the UK turn out to be completely overblown nonsense when you look into them properly.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#32

Post by dns_snek »

bapak wrote: post #21
itake wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

seems to be working in China. While many Chinese use VPN software, many don't bother with the friction and are fine just using rednote and friends.

Leaving the complexity of attempting to circumvent the great firewall aside, VPN isn't free. Not many are willing to drop £60+/year just to avoid identifying yourself on PH. Easier to find a website that doesn't enforce it.

> VPN isn't free. Not many are willing to drop £60+/year

Yes it is, well, the shady ones that make you part of a botnet are. Those are the ones people are going to predominantly use.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#34

Post by kevinventullo »

zaptheimpaler wrote: post #27

Basically every new law, piece of news or media I see coming from the UK paints a picture of a beat-down, cynical & scared society that's complacent to or in support of increasing surveillance and control by the government. Like maybe Adolescence or basically any mention of the NHS. The crimes they cite like child grooming or terrorism/hate being incited sound pretty terrible too, but I wonder why the UK specifically…

Neither, they’re just the most convenient excuses for instituting draconian laws.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#35

Post by winrid »

itake wrote: post #14
ethan_smith wrote: post #11

Classic Streisand effect - attempts to restrict content access inevitably lead to widespread adoption of circumvention technologies.

seems to be working in China. While many Chinese use VPN software, many don't bother with the friction and are fine just using rednote and friends.

VPNs barely work in China IME. NordVPN didn't work, for example, and my self hosted VPN would often get disconnected.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#36

Post by alwa »

gg82 wrote: post #33

The safety rules are also being used to block content about protests in the UK. How convenient for them. https://freespeechunion.org/protest-footage-blocked-as-onlin...

> “West Yorkshire Police denied any involvement in blocking the footage. X declined to comment, but its AI chatbot, Grok, indicated the clip had been restricted under the Online Safety Act due to violent content.”

I’m not involved with X or with its chatbot. Is its chatbot ordinarily an authoritative source for facts about assumptions like this one, that the law “was used to take down” politically sensitive video?

It’s a bad look either way, but I feel like there are important differences between the law leading to overly conservative automated filtering, vs political actors using it deliberately in specific cases. Bad symptom either way, but different medicines, right?

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#37

Post by userbinator »

pydry wrote: post #24
scott_w wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It definitely seems like she’s conflating two issues: access to pornography and child grooming. I don’t see why she thinks regulating VPNs would reduce the latter.

She doesnt, she just wants to put in Putin-like levels of control and surveillance for the same reasons Putin does.

Jinping is probably a better comparison.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#38

Post by johnisgood »

scott_w wrote: post #20
sefrost wrote: post #12

It is only a matter of time before they attempt to regulate VPN usage. Here is an article written by a British MP hinting at that: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/onli...

It definitely seems like she’s conflating two issues: access to pornography and child grooming. I don’t see why she thinks regulating VPNs would reduce the latter.

It does not. As I have said before, pedophilia is rampant on Roblox and Discord. Go monitor those platforms, and hold these platforms responsible, not VPNs. Regulating VPNs will not reduce child grooming, and I am sure they are not stupid enough to actually think it does.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#39

Post by happymellon »

zaptheimpaler wrote: post #27

Basically every new law, piece of news or media I see coming from the UK paints a picture of a beat-down, cynical & scared society that's complacent to or in support of increasing surveillance and control by the government. Like maybe Adolescence or basically any mention of the NHS. The crimes they cite like child grooming or terrorism/hate being incited sound pretty terrible too, but I wonder why the UK specifically…

Because the media always paints other countries in certain lights, as it helps them build a narrative for their own governments?

> complacent to or in support of increasing surveillance and control by the government

I disagree with this sentiment, however it does show how bad "democracy" can be when voting for a complete government change results in absolutely no change whatsoever.

Re: VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in

#40

Post by ls612 »

airhangerf15 wrote: post #25
john01dav wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's because this law isn't about protecting children, but about control of the Internet. They want online activity tied to real identity as a power grab.

Yea, it's all about a permanent Digital ID and the end of any independent forums. It's the first essential steps before you get to great firewalls and social credit scores. Remember, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas already have similar laws in place in the US, so even a nation with better speech and gun laws is still not immune from the slow descent into technocracy.

At least in the US the Supreme Court ruled that these sorts of laws are only kosher because they target porn, which is afforded a lower degree of legal protection (albeit not no protection at all). Trying to restrict access to protected political speech or the like the way the UK and Australia did would likely be a very different court case.
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