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UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

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Re: UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

#201

Post by spacebanana7 »

closewith wrote: post #187
jemmyw wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Of course, they'll say all of the state owned media operated without political direction Before Brexit I would have said so too. The government regularly clashed with the BBC. And Channel 4 news was a delight. Recently the TV channels have clearly been brought into line via governance and the need to change the funding.

> Before Brexit I would have said so too. Given the dubbing of Gerry Adams, the coverage of Iraq/Afghanistan war crimes, and anything related to Ireland, I don't know you could possibly have believed this. It was just that pre-Brexit, you agreed with the propaganda.

Propaganda is perhaps at its most poisonous when it's stuff you agree with. It's so much harder to see, and likely far more effective at bypassing our critical thinking.

Re: UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

#202

Post by mdp2021 »

tgv wrote: post #98
mdp2021 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see. I only came to know it from the list. Now what about the rest of the list.

Is this you? news.ycombinator.com | Hacker News https://news.ycombinator.com Reported: 15 August, 2025 at 10:09 Shut down on: 15 August, 2025 Shutting down due to OSA Discussion site for insufferable nerds. Submitted

It is nice of you to do community bond building by being jocular, tgv, but I do not see context nor content.

I do not see context because this is the beginning of "present an ID to access the web", and I do believe in slippery slopes, especially in a world where societies have lost the basics.

And I do not see content because I am not sure you want to suggest anything relevant with that.

For the rest, we can joke whenever we are both here fondly mate, but you have probably picked the worst topic for it.

--

Edit:

> where societies have lost the basics

And that's why I feel your use of "nerd" is so out of current reality (besides its application to the attending). A world of voluntary subjects, and the term for the sieged would be "nerd"?!

Re: UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

#203

Post by omnicognate »

1234letshaveatw wrote: post #141
omnicognate wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Profound legal analysis there. The United States' experiences with its written constitution don't give me any reason to think one would be a good idea in the UK.

I know right? Just look at all the wrongthink in the US being bandied about

I see no greater diversity of viewpoints in the US than the UK. I do see a country that's falling apart, sadly.

Re: UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

#204

Post by redeyedtreefrog »

mcjiggerlog wrote: post #40
dustincoates wrote: post #5

Without passing judgment on the act, this is incredibly misleading. I found the source of the original quotes[0], and they are taken quite out of context. From the article: >First, we are told, the relevant secretary of state (Michelle Donelan) expressed “concern” that the legislation might whack sites such as Amazon instead of Pornhub. In response, officials explained that the regulation in question was “not primari…

There oddly seems to be a concerted effort online to paint the UK as some kind of failing police state recently. This narrative seems to have really taken off with some Americans, who now seem completely convinced that the UK government is some kind of totalitarian oppressor who are snatching people off the streets. Meanwhile, Brits just look on at this narrative wondering what the hell they're talking about. Look, I…

Yup entirely this. The biggest sign of this is Tommy Robinson, who has blatantly committed outrageous cases of stalking, harassment, and contempt of court, for which he has been convicted. But because his schtick is complaining about Muslims he is then treated as a hero of the US right, gets invited on right-wing talk shows and gets bigged up by Elon Musk. I recently had a guy sit next to me on a plane bring him up as supposed proof of the UK being an authoritarian state.

I go absolutely out of my way to avoid politics nowadays, which makes it all the more frustrating when this nonsense is shoved in my face by idiots on HackerNews or dimwits sitting next to me on the plane.

Re: UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

#205

Post by hopelite »

crinkly wrote: post #58
mcjiggerlog wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There oddly seems to be a concerted effort online to paint the UK as some kind of failing police state recently. This narrative seems to have really taken off with some Americans, who now seem completely convinced that the UK government is some kind of totalitarian oppressor who are snatching people off the streets. Meanwhile, Brits just look on at this narrative wondering what the hell they're talking about. Look, I…

If it was a police state, JD Vance wouldn’t be getting it on his holiday here from protesters and video vans driving around and being refused service in a pub. It could end up that way but we’re not there yet. If we do get there we tend to make the French look like amateur protestors (look up poll tax riots). I’m less worried about a police state than a corporate dystopia. The attendee list at Trump’s inauguration wo…

That is a very simple perspective. Nothing about the current British government would preclude being underhanded and manipulative, i.e., making sure that not only the current US government, but the next system’s candidate is made to feel discomfort and displeasure in order to manipulate.

People do this kind of underhanded passive aggressive thing all the time, why would it not be the case for the British government to basically “neg” the VP that has on several occasions now dressed them and all the Europeans down and embarrassed them? I could very easily see this being the very kind of manipulative and passive aggressive thing that the British government would facilitate as a spit in the face of the guy who admonished them for their thought/speech control.

You seem to have a “police state” model in your mind that is akin to a North Korea and less what it will most likely be in the west, far more manipulative and sophisticated, as depicted in Orwell’s 1984.

Re: UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

#206

Post by [deleted] »

mcjiggerlog wrote: post #40
dustincoates wrote: post #5

Without passing judgment on the act, this is incredibly misleading. I found the source of the original quotes[0], and they are taken quite out of context. From the article: >First, we are told, the relevant secretary of state (Michelle Donelan) expressed “concern” that the legislation might whack sites such as Amazon instead of Pornhub. In response, officials explained that the regulation in question was “not primari…

There oddly seems to be a concerted effort online to paint the UK as some kind of failing police state recently. This narrative seems to have really taken off with some Americans, who now seem completely convinced that the UK government is some kind of totalitarian oppressor who are snatching people off the streets. Meanwhile, Brits just look on at this narrative wondering what the hell they're talking about. Look, I…

[deleted]

Re: UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

#207

Post by liveoneggs »

esskay wrote: post #82
ap99 wrote: post #18

For the Americans looking at this act, you're maybe putting it in the context of American politics and thinking who cares if the porn sites have my face or id. But in the UK you can be arrested and jailed for saying something online that offends someone else.

> But in the UK you can be arrested and jailed for saying something online that offends someone else. It's hard to take this seriously, especially when if I ask for citations it'll likely be a couple of extremely obscure cases where the details are being conveniently glossed over.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/10/retired-police-o...

Re: UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

#208

Post by liveoneggs »

_joel wrote: post #69
ap99 wrote: post #18

For the Americans looking at this act, you're maybe putting it in the context of American politics and thinking who cares if the porn sites have my face or id. But in the UK you can be arrested and jailed for saying something online that offends someone else.

Please cite examples of someone being jailed for offending someone (that doesn't include incitement to violence).

Held for eight hours + other abuse: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/10/retired-police-o...

Re: UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

#209

Post by hgomersall »

holoduke wrote: post #93
mcjiggerlog wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There oddly seems to be a concerted effort online to paint the UK as some kind of failing police state recently. This narrative seems to have really taken off with some Americans, who now seem completely convinced that the UK government is some kind of totalitarian oppressor who are snatching people off the streets. Meanwhile, Brits just look on at this narrative wondering what the hell they're talking about. Look, I…

The problem in the UK is that politics are not in any way looking after its citizens. Its a group of elitists that serve large financial institutes. If you look at the UK now it really is much worse than lets say 30 years ago. Infrastructure is in a bad shape. Poverty is pretty visible. Loads of people living paycheck by paycheck. The mighty UK empire is gone.

TINA /s

Re: UK government states that 'safety' act is about influence over public discourse

#210

Post by eftpotrm »

dgroshev wrote: post #162
matthewmacleod wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are very significant concerns about the actions of the Westminster government recently no doubt – this is stupid legislation, and it compounds with other stupid legislation (see the recent arrests for supporting proscribed groups). Everyone should be protesting this nonsense. That said, there is equally a clear and obvious effort to distort what is happening. And I don't think anybody should really be taking le…

The government in power has little to do with the Act, it was passed two years ago by a different party that is now refusing to own the mess that they created. Sure, one can say that the government could be more diligent at repealing bad laws, but the Parliament had quite a few things on its plate already, so it's not surprising that this Act coming into power during the summer recess wasn't high on the agenda.

Passed with the support of the current governing party, it should be noted.
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