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Ofcom fines 4chan £20K and counting for violating UK's Online Safety Act

theregister.com

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Re: Ofcom fines 4chan £20K and counting for violating UK's Online Safety Act

#41

Post by linuxftw »

Many people are saying this is symbolic and cannot be enforced. Unfortunately, that's just not true. Look at what happened to the founder of Telegram. Some jurisdiction decides you're violating their laws, all you need to do is catch a connecting flight or take a vacation on their soil or a place that will eagerly extradite, and you're a political prisoner.

What happens if one of the officers of 4Chan or Gab is on a flight to Paris and the plane is redirected to London? Well, they're going to prison. The UK is a police state.

Re: Ofcom fines 4chan £20K and counting for violating UK's Online Safety Act

#43

Post by smashah »

retrac98 wrote: post #8

At this point we need big names to choose to remove their services in the UK so the government gets the message.

imgur did this.

Unfortunately, I don't see any site being blocked that will make these shameless gremlins in power let go of their authoritarian control over the public's lives.

Re: Ofcom fines 4chan £20K and counting for violating UK's Online Safety Act

#45

Post by gadders »

cosmicgadget wrote: post #34
gadders wrote: post #21

I think the end state of this will be when Trump links prosecutions like this to tariff deals, and Kier Starmer will have to choose between mean words on the internet or further damage to an economy in already bad shape.

Curious why Trump would even care and, if so, why he wouldn't lean toward his constituency that is largely in favor of these laws (see Texas, Florida, Utah, etc.).

I think there is a difference between straight p0rn, and a discussion forum that often posts NSFW images.

4chan is also the originator of the Pepe the Frog memes, and claims (whether people believe it or not) to have meme-d Trump into the Whitehouse in 2016.

Re: Ofcom fines 4chan £20K and counting for violating UK's Online Safety Act

#47

Post by toyg »

encom wrote: post #14

What a colossal waste of time. At this point, just unplug the undersea cables, and turn the UK into a big intranet. It's clearly what Ofcom wants.

Ofcom does what the government tells it to do. And the government does what people tell them to do. You underestimate the popular support for censorship laws in the UK - the country still had a legally-empowered "Board of Film Censors" in 2010...

Re: Ofcom fines 4chan £20K and counting for violating UK's Online Safety Act

#48

Post by gadders »

observationist wrote: post #23
gadders wrote: post #21

I think the end state of this will be when Trump links prosecutions like this to tariff deals, and Kier Starmer will have to choose between mean words on the internet or further damage to an economy in already bad shape.

Starmer doesn't have very long, and he seems to be trying to accelerate his relocation out of government.

I think he is stuck, like the Prime Minister of France. He has a party that won't tolerate spending cuts of the required scale, and an economy that can't tolerate further tax raises.

He also has the charisma of a wet sock, which doesn't help.

Re: Ofcom fines 4chan £20K and counting for violating UK's Online Safety Act

#49

Post by ddalex »

linuxftw wrote: post #41

Many people are saying this is symbolic and cannot be enforced. Unfortunately, that's just not true. Look at what happened to the founder of Telegram. Some jurisdiction decides you're violating their laws, all you need to do is catch a connecting flight or take a vacation on their soil or a place that will eagerly extradite, and you're a political prisoner. What happens if one of the officers of 4Chan or Gab is on a…

It has been known that certain middle east countries force passengers crafts to divert and land to get their hands on wanted people

Re: Ofcom fines 4chan £20K and counting for violating UK's Online Safety Act

#50

Post by fair_enough »

linuxftw wrote: post #41

Many people are saying this is symbolic and cannot be enforced. Unfortunately, that's just not true. Look at what happened to the founder of Telegram. Some jurisdiction decides you're violating their laws, all you need to do is catch a connecting flight or take a vacation on their soil or a place that will eagerly extradite, and you're a political prisoner. What happens if one of the officers of 4Chan or Gab is on a…

That is a good point I completely overlooked: your international flight can get redirected to a country you never intended to visit.
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