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Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

express.co.uk

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Re: Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

#561

Post by sjw987 »

andai wrote: post #177

WhatsApp, Telegram and everyone else should pull out of EU in protest of Chat Control. Then EU will be forced to make its own chat app, UX will be terrible, and citizens will finally feel enough pain to contact their representatives ;)

Why would the UX be terrible necessarily?

If the EU or companies within did make a chat app and it got widespread appeal, it would just be exactly the same as WhatsApp. WhatsApp isn't special in any way whatsoever, besides having a critical mass of users.

Re: Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

#562

Post by rimbo789 »

p0w3n3d wrote: post #532
oldjim798 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Following this logic, I suppose that, in the future, cars that cannot automatically detect the presence of a child in a wheelchair and prevent the engine from starting will be banned. You said this like it is a bad thing, which is baffling? Obviously cars should do this. One of the best things about adding self-driving features is we can add features like this (and speed governors) to make cars a lot safer for every…

why overregulation is baffling to you?

Because it isn’t overregulation? Ensuring cars don’t kill people is a good thing. It’s proven from the last century of road deaths that people can’t actually drive them safely so automating safety is the next best thing.

More generally I don’t think overregulation is really a thing. Just because you don’t see the use case for a rule doesn’t mean there isn’t one or it doesn’t serve some purpose. I think the last 40 years of removing rules have shown we are really bad at knowing where the line is.

Re: Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

#563

Post by 6LLvveMx2koXfwn »

I'm probably alone in thinking this is ok. According to the statement by the ICO reported by the BBC, this is because imgur has refused to implement some kind of technical verification of users being served pornography or suicide promotion.

Requiring this is not a bad thing

Governments/Regulation is the only tool at our disposal

How else should we approach this problem? Do we just throw our hands in the air? Or do we think that serving pornography and suicide promotion is not something that requires oversight?

Re: Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

#564

Post by sjw987 »

ben_w wrote: post #481
DeepSeaTortoise wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The technical aspects of the software aren't the problem. Convincing enough people to adopt your app before you're getting a great deal on a 20sqft studio apartment is.

Yes, and? This is a response to a hypothetical where every single existing (or possibly just US) chat provider leaves the EU, and I'm saying the claim that this will cause any degree of pain whatsoever to the EU population is ridiculous because the replacements are far too trivial to not immediately replace the US apps .

I fully support your argument and can't understand why people in this thread assume the EU doesn't have millions of programmers who can bash out a chat app, one of which would rise above the others and get a critical mass of users.

Sometimes I think it would be good for Meta, X, Google etc. to lose market share in the EU and UK. It's ridiculous that we're beholden to one country for so much software, and they're all being actively enshitified anyway.

Re: Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

#565

Post by isodev »

m101 wrote: post #495
isodev wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And perhaps, we should look at this from the PoV of the user and not defend the "company" (which has the advantage in all cases). Screaming "bureaucracy" and "overregulation" for every single attempt at limiting the impact of corporations is just silly.

Yes, so from the point of view of the user was there evidence of actual harm?

Well yes - so many young people in the UK have been radicalised. Was it the fault of Imgur, I don't know, probably not. Is the Online Safety Act going to solve it? Probably not.

But my comment was that, in general, it's not up to Imgur, Google, Meta, Apple, etc. to have an opinion on this or any other country's policy because it's just not fair. 1 corporation should not have more say or sway than 1 citizen vote. And that ideally includes their ability to "lobby" and buy themselves regulations (like the recent AI law in California which practically doesn't do anything).

Re: Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

#566

Post by nightfly »

6LLvveMx2koXfwn wrote: post #563

I'm probably alone in thinking this is ok. According to the statement by the ICO reported by the BBC, this is because imgur has refused to implement some kind of technical verification of users being served pornography or suicide promotion. Requiring this is not a bad thing Governments/Regulation is the only tool at our disposal How else should we approach this problem? Do we just throw our hands in the air? Or do we…

The (a?) problem is that only the largest / most profitable players can afford to implement these systems. So while well intentioned they just shut out any company/service without loads of extra cash

Re: Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

#567

Post by c16 »

6LLvveMx2koXfwn wrote: post #563

I'm probably alone in thinking this is ok. According to the statement by the ICO reported by the BBC, this is because imgur has refused to implement some kind of technical verification of users being served pornography or suicide promotion. Requiring this is not a bad thing Governments/Regulation is the only tool at our disposal How else should we approach this problem? Do we just throw our hands in the air? Or do we…

While this is a very real concern; I can't help but think it's over exaggerated? Kids will always find ways around blocks. I know, I too was once a child.

They're already using Google Docs as a chat application in class when social media is blocked. So what are we really trying to do here? Much like prohibition, I suspect we'll see the masses annoyed and inconvenienced, and those who want to find alcohol finding it regardless.

Sometimes I miss the old flash, irc, html tables for layouts internet.

Re: Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

#568

Post by chrisjj »

afandian wrote: post #254
chrisjj wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Imgur's entire purpose is clearly to host user generated content Not at all. Imgur does the passive side too. And by number of operations, it is by far the biggest one.

Without user-generated content there is nothing to host. And in any case they long ago turned from an image hosting site into a social media site. There's reactions and commenting as a core part of the service now.

> Without user-generated content there is nothing to host.

So what? Without the passively-read content there'd be no user-generated content.

> There's reactions and commenting as a core part of the service now.

It is totally optional.

Re: Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

#569

Post by SilverBirch »

6LLvveMx2koXfwn wrote: post #563

I'm probably alone in thinking this is ok. According to the statement by the ICO reported by the BBC, this is because imgur has refused to implement some kind of technical verification of users being served pornography or suicide promotion. Requiring this is not a bad thing Governments/Regulation is the only tool at our disposal How else should we approach this problem? Do we just throw our hands in the air? Or do we…

If I don't want my child doing something, it's up to me to enforce that. I don't want my kid eating snacks before dinner, have I called upon the UK government to shut down the biscuit aisle at Tesco from 3pm-5pm?

The core of this issue is a kind of backwards notion that the internet needs to be a safe place, that the UK government says it can legislate that everyone on the internet has to verify who is accessing their site and then enforcing the UK's laws around it. It's nuts.

It's also not solving a problem. If you want to control what your kid sees on the internet there are already safeguards you can use, you can set up content restrictions on basically any device today. This law appears to be in place to be the mummy of children whose own mummies don't want to enforce certain restrictions on internet access.

I hear next month the M25 is going to be prosecuted for letting a child walk down the hard shoulder.

Re: Imgur pulls out of UK as data watchdog threatens fine

#570

Post by sjw987 »

gethly wrote: post #484
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But also, Internet with zero governance isn't any better for the people. So what's left?

Are you sure? Back in late 90s, 2000s, even 2010s, the internet was truly awesome. Only once governments started to get involved, by increasing the red tape and adding restrictions and whatnot, it became shit. So I would argue that you are completely wrong. Yes, it might have been a bit of a wild west, but that is a good thing because you needed to have some smarts to navigate it and that filtered out the dumb masses…

The internet became shit not when governments got involved, but when millions of people came online and pushed early enthusiasts into a minority.

The invasion of normal people onto the internet was the seed for handing the web to a small selection of companies, and a decline in etiquette which is now reflected in the real world (misinformation, political polarisation, bullying and group radicalism).

It was inevitable that regulation would need to come as soon as this group came online. Many regulations were postponed way too much, because politicians of the time didn't understand what they were dealing with.

There is nothing wrong with governments putting in regulations about child safety on the internet, so long as that's the real purpose (in the UK, this isn't it). It's not right for companies like Facebook to be misusing the data of child (nor should it be for adults either).

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