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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

#41

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.

https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/05/15/britains-police...

Tons of people are arrested and charged every day for thought crimes in Britain.

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

#42
post #36
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…

Of course LLMs are a rubbish source for facts, one should always verify. Not possible in this case so I would assume it just made it up

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

#43

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.

One possibly significant difference is that the cultural attitudes in the US tend to lean more rebellious and distrustful of the government, and "it's legal if you don't get caught" is a somewhat popular sentiment.

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

#45

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.

Authoritarian CCTV cameras in Shenzhen Vs democratic CCTV cameras in London

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

#46
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Xi is fairly popular in China tho, unlike this "labour" govt.

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

#47
post #15

I really don't understand why it wasn't just a requirement for Apple and Google to include a client side filter. Parent sets up the phone and it's enabled by default. Much simpler option for everyone involved.

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.

Probably based on long term concerns that escalating inequality will lead to widespread unrest and violence. Which it will, if unaddressed.

Interesting that decades of government leaves half the country to rot, and their solution is to try to stop that half from rioting about it, rather than - perhaps - making society fairer?

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

#49

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.

> 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.

I’m not sure what gun laws have to do with anything but guns are not unreasonably difficult to legally purchase in the UK or EU if you have a specific need for one. It’s a tool and treated as such

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

#50
post #48

This might be a dumb question, but is it possible for the UK government to ban VPN usage within the UK?

They banned porn with choking in it. They banned toy advertising in the evening. They tried to ban client side encryption for iCloud. Make no mistake they will go for vpns too.
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