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US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

reuters.com

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Re: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

#181

Post by api »

0xy wrote: post #162
sublimefire wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What limits? You can do pretty much what you want but make sure you can defend yourself in the court. I feel there is a bit of a disconnect in terms where people get the news where in US you kind of expect biggest news providers to be biassed, eg Fox, hence reliance on social media. In Europe gov media is quite strong and objective, and the idea that it restricts something is odd. A great example is the banning of RT…

Thousands of people in the UK have been arrested for social media posts, some for speech recognized as protected by international organizations. Germany is currently actively campaigning to force everyone to use their real names on all social media and force ID checks to do so, a clear chilling effect for free speech. Macron has been railing against free speech specifically in recent months, calling it "bullshit". Eu…

Ten seconds of searching:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1qv0vpi/...

The propaganda take I keep seeing is that you can get arrested for misgendering people or something, but these are at least close to incitement to violence. Some clearly cross that line.

To be clear I’m closer to the American view. I think the bar should be very, very high for speech to be criminally actionable. Just pointing out that it doesn’t seem as nuts as some make it sound.

Re: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

#182

Post by reactordev »

reactordev wrote: post #66
recursive wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speed of light establishes certain latency minima. Experimental data can falsify (or not) at geographical locations far enough from VA.

Correct but local governments using Palantir will need to provide it to them somehow.

https://amp.dw.com/en/german-police-expands-use-of-palantir-...

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2025/12/15/us-tech-...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/05/calls-to-ha...

https://theweek.com/tech/palantir-influence-in-the-british-s...

https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/2026/02/01/palantir-in-aus...

Mmmmkay…

Re: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

#183

Post by goodmythical »

carlm42 wrote: post #136
MiiMe19 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I don't know where you live but I've been able to express myself without any form of approval. Granted, I tend to not encourage genocide or glorify fascist regimes, but that's just me.

Where do you live where you're allowed to express yourself without any form of approval?

For instance, in the US, I cannot hysterically scream FIRE while running toward the exit of a theater, nor could I express a desire to cause bodily harm to an individual.

Not that I would, per se, but if I did I'd be liable to prosecution for the damages caused in either instance.

I'd have to get the approval of those involved (by their not seeking legal recourse), in order to do either without consequence.

Re: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

#184

Post by [deleted] »

schoen wrote: post #38

I just chaired a session at the FOCI conference earlier today, where people were talking about Internet censorship circumvention technologies and how to prevent governments from blocking them. I'd like to remind everyone that the U.S. government has been one the largest funders of that research for decades. Some of it is under USAGM (formerly BBG, the parent of RFE/RL) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Agen…

[deleted]

Re: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

#185

Post by reactordev »

Den_VR wrote: post #115
reactordev wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It goes deeper than that. The U.S. Government funds it, discourages other nations from using it, and spies on all web traffic as a result of it. Almost 80% of communications go through a data center in Northern VA. Within a quick drive to Langley, Quantico, DC, and other places that house three letter agencies I’m not authorized to disclose.

So they… drive the data around NOVA?

No, but you can visit a “clean room” and look at the data at any number of sites.

Re: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

#186

Post by 0xy »

api wrote: post #181
0xy wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thousands of people in the UK have been arrested for social media posts, some for speech recognized as protected by international organizations. Germany is currently actively campaigning to force everyone to use their real names on all social media and force ID checks to do so, a clear chilling effect for free speech. Macron has been railing against free speech specifically in recent months, calling it "bullshit". Eu…

Ten seconds of searching: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1qv0vpi/... The propaganda take I keep seeing is that you can get arrested for misgendering people or something, but these are at least close to incitement to violence. Some clearly cross that line. To be clear I’m closer to the American view. I think the bar should be very, very high for speech to be criminally actionable. Just pointing ou…

You didn't search very hard.

https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-kingdom/freedom-net/...

"Internet freedom declined in the United Kingdom during the coverage period due to a reported increase in criminal charges for online speech"

"A separate report from The Telegraph found that 292 people had been charged for spreading false information and “threatening communications” under the Online Safety Act between when it came into effect in 2023 and February 2025. Some civil liberties groups expressed concern that the laws were being applied broadly and in some cases punished speech protected by international human rights standards (C3)."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/15/hundreds-charged...

"Legal experts have also questioned the new rules. David Hardstaff, a serious crime expert at the law firm BCL Solicitors, said the fake news offence was “problematic both for its potential to stifle free speech if misused, but equally for its lack of clarity and consistency”."

Re: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

#187

Post by reactordev »

Aurornis wrote: post #173
reactordev wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not a single data center, it’s about 200 of them.

Just minutes ago you said this: > Almost 80% of communications go through a data center in Northern VA Where are you getting this new 200 numbers? Share a source please.

One of…

Ashburn, VA is the data center capital of the world.

When you type and hit submit, even on this site, your data will hit one of those data centers.

The few exceptions are government networks and China.

Re: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

#188

Post by [deleted] »

ohyoutravel wrote: post #122
nickorlow wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US can probably use their soft power to influence them not to do that. Also would imagine the US gov could also set up some more censorship resistant access methods.

Well, maybe USAID could have helped here. Or a robust State Dept.

[deleted]

Re: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

#189

Post by zefalt »

carlm42 wrote: post #109
mlh496 wrote: post #64

Sad that western Europe is pushing so hard for limits to free speech & privacy. I'm not surprised given their history, but it's sad nonetheless.

Sad that the United States are pushing so hard to encourage the propagation of propaganda & lies. I'm not surprised given their history, but it's sad nonetheless.

Sad that people can’t see past their ideological bubbles. Tech spaces used to be dominated by people who saw free speech as an imperative. Now their own political biases have them supporting censorship.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/police-make-30-arr...

Re: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

#190

Post by 0xy »

seattle_spring wrote: post #172
0xy wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thousands of people in the UK have been arrested for social media posts, some for speech recognized as protected by international organizations. Germany is currently actively campaigning to force everyone to use their real names on all social media and force ID checks to do so, a clear chilling effect for free speech. Macron has been railing against free speech specifically in recent months, calling it "bullshit". Eu…

> some for speech recognized as protected by international organizations. Can you share some concrete examples from reputable sources that show these? Every examples I've seen have been clear-cut calls for violence, or unambiguous harassment.

Absolutely. There are several examples that are not calls for violence or unambiguous harassment that were documented by The Telegraph.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/15/hundreds-charged...

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