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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

#571

Post by mft_ »

graublau wrote: post #512
mft_ wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This view (“the Bourgeois’, etc.) seems to imply there’s a group of very clever manipulators somewhere, overtly planning and executing this (presumably in a dark room with armchairs and cigars). But I just can’t imagine this, in the UK’s example. What I see instead is the other side of Hanlon’s razor —incompetence— coupled with a political class riven with pockets of self-interest, and very few seemingly with an inte…

Are you aware of the reason Epstein island existed? Do you know about the history of intelligence agencies influence on national governments? Transnational corporate lobbying? (All incompetence. I suppose.) No dark rooms, armchairs or cigars are needed. Did you guys even read Wikileaks?

Yes indeed. But aren't these all discrete examples, rather than a centralised deliberate process of manipulation of the proletariat?

e.g. corporate lobbying clearly exists and operates, and may be nefarious, but is broadly directed towards the corporate entity's gain, rather than dividing and conquering the masses.

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

#572

Post by mft_ »

KineticLensman wrote: post #79
mft_ wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This view (“the Bourgeois’, etc.) seems to imply there’s a group of very clever manipulators somewhere, overtly planning and executing this (presumably in a dark room with armchairs and cigars). But I just can’t imagine this, in the UK’s example. What I see instead is the other side of Hanlon’s razor —incompetence— coupled with a political class riven with pockets of self-interest, and very few seemingly with an inte…

Elements of the UK media fulfil this role, continually advancing a corrosive narrative that the country is broken. E.g. frequently using the words ‘lawless’ or ‘tinderbox’ in any headline or op-ed title that also contains the word ‘Britain’

The closest I can imagine would be media owners - the Murdochs, the Barclays, etc. And of course, they can all be in bed with their own special interest groups, or particular friends. But they're also acting differently, mostly out of self-interest, and in totally different uncoordinated directions.

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

#573

Post by systemstops »

notahacker wrote: post #556
systemstops wrote: post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I started working with folks from the UK right at the start when social media really took off, and I personally think that what ails the UK is the same as what ails the world. Too much social media. There have been a number of public scandals regarding immigrant crimes, along with subsequent anti-immigrant riots started via social media and people being sent to jail for internet posts. Social media seems to be more…

Many of the areas most upset by immigration barely see any immigrants, whilst many of the most persistent spreaders of rumours about terrible things caused by immigration to the UK don't actually live there. Of course, it isn't just social media that obsesses over immigrants in the UK (and many other places), mainstream print media and politicians are pretty obsessed with them too.

Personally, I would rate the grooming gangs scandal as one of the worse things that happened to a western nation in decades. It literally made me sick to stomach when I read the details. I think the obsession is somewhat justified.

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

#574

Post by Calavar »

jahewson wrote: post #542
areoform wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Taxes are rising (with tax take falling) > just mentioning increased immigration One of these seems like the solution to the other. > as long as those people leaving are straight, white males, or their families, they're being told "good riddance" regardless of the brain drain and loss of tax income Having UK work experience and having talked to thousands of british folks over a decade, I find this hard to believe.…

The difference between social media and traditional media is, roughly speaking, the absence of a centralised editor that has the ability to gatekeep the nation’s discourse. If that’s not authoritarian I’m not sure what is! Social media is a forum for people to complain about the problems they face, if you don’t like that the solution is not to censor the messenger but to fix the problems. As someone who grew up in th…

If editors are authoritarian for controlling what people see, then social media algorithms are super-authoritarian for the same reason. They also decide what people see, they also modify the cultural and political consciousness, just on a more granular level. An editor can try to push one group of people in one direction, but a social media algorithm can push multiple groups of people in multiple different directions.

IMHO, there's nothing authoritarian about either editors or social media. It only becomes authoritarian when they intentionally align with a central political authority.

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

#575

Post by jimbokun »

jahewson wrote: post #542
areoform wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Taxes are rising (with tax take falling) > just mentioning increased immigration One of these seems like the solution to the other. > as long as those people leaving are straight, white males, or their families, they're being told "good riddance" regardless of the brain drain and loss of tax income Having UK work experience and having talked to thousands of british folks over a decade, I find this hard to believe.…

The difference between social media and traditional media is, roughly speaking, the absence of a centralised editor that has the ability to gatekeep the nation’s discourse. If that’s not authoritarian I’m not sure what is! Social media is a forum for people to complain about the problems they face, if you don’t like that the solution is not to censor the messenger but to fix the problems. As someone who grew up in th…

Turns out most people are bad at editing the firehose of information coming at them to determine what's true and what's not.

I don't support censorship. But increasing the accuracy of the information most people are getting is a difficult problem to solve.

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

#576

Post by ben_w »

Veen wrote: post #420
pjc50 wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone always wants to bring it back to immigration, because they've seen US ICE snatch squads and internment camps and decide that they want some of that here.

It's very difficult to build a growing economy when you have mass unskilled immigration combined with free healthcare and a generous welfare system.

Growth is much easier with mass immigration than mass emigration, regardless of if those crossing either direction are skilled or unskilled.

And the UK welfare system isn't all that good. I'm a landlord, and at one point a letting agency told me they refuse to deal with anyone on the welfare system because it's simply too difficult to actually get the council, who are supposed to pay, to actually pay. The necessity for food banks is another big hint that the government system isn't covering basics.

And the UK healthcare system has for a while now only been free to UK permanent lawful residents and a handful of others: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/visiting-or-moving-to-englan...

(As in: migrants will be asked to prove entitlement, it won't be assumed).

If you moved to the UK for work, you're paying twice for the NHS, because not only is it supposed to be covered by national insurance contributions, but there's also an NHS immigrant surcharge: https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/how-mu...

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

#578

Post by AdmiralAsshat »

zaptheimpaler wrote: post #27

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…

Strange how close V for Vendetta got, even though Alan Moore was ostensibly complaining about Thatcherism at the time, innit?

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

#579

Post by cedws »

ionwake wrote: post #253

Just a reminder “Brexit” happened just a few years ago. Suddenly no British man can be more than 3 months in another European country before being “banned”. You can’t even move to Switzerland and setup a company. Yes technically it’s possible but I was told my a Swiss accountant “just don’t bother trying unless you can get a European passport - if you can” This is from personal experience. As odd as it sounds Brexit…

As a Brit that was too young to vote in the referendum I feel like I’m stuck in a venus fly trap and the jaws are closing. I would have liked to live in Europe for a while, but welp, now that option’s gone. An image of a frog boiling in a pot also comes to mind.

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

#580

Post by cedws »

wintermutestwin wrote: post #550
ionwake wrote: post #253

Just a reminder “Brexit” happened just a few years ago. Suddenly no British man can be more than 3 months in another European country before being “banned”. You can’t even move to Switzerland and setup a company. Yes technically it’s possible but I was told my a Swiss accountant “just don’t bother trying unless you can get a European passport - if you can” This is from personal experience. As odd as it sounds Brexit…

I am surprised that the housing markets in Spain and Portugal haven’t declined due to Brexit.

If anything I would have expected the market to explode in Portugal. The digital nomad visa they offer is one of the easiest for us to get and after living there for five years you regain the right to live in the EU. I’ve considered moving there but their immigration system is dysfunctional apparently.
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