For years, politicians from across the political spectrum insisted the Online Safety Act would focus solely on illegal content without threatening free expression. But from the moment its age-verification duties took effect on 25 July, that reassurance began to unravel.
What is happening in the UK in the last year or so? I keep seeing crazy headlines like this every so often.
The online safety act requiring ID, police showing up at old people’s houses for their Facebook/twitter posts, or that one time someone suggested they would try to extradite Americans for the same thing. Where is this coming from all of a sudden?
The centre left government are afraid of losing voters to the far right party, so they’re cutting out the middle man and implementing crazy authoritarian policies first.
Labour won in a landslide after the Brexit mess rightfully fucked up the Tories. They do this because they aren’t center left, but a right/far-right party by their ideology now. They don’t have to do this. They want to do this.
The “Labour/Social Democratic” parties all over Europe have been sliding into right/far-right authoritarianism and Racism over the past decades, after many of them slided into Neoliberalism at the end of the 90s and in the 2000s.
Also worth noting that they only won by a landslide because the Tories lost loads of voters because people were so fed up with them. Labour actually got less votes this election than they did previously when they lost
It could just be the parts of the internet I inhabit, but I don’t think it’s really a recent thing, I think it’s just hitting a point where the masses are really starting to take notice of it.
I’m pretty sure I remember seeing memes about CCTV cameras and such in the UK about 20 years ago now, and I don’t think it’s an accident that things like 1984 and V for Vendetta were written by British authors and set there.
As an outsider, it’s certainly looked to me like the UK has been kind of a nanny state for a long time, and it’s not a long walk from there to the kind of bullshit we’re seeing more of now.
Not that I really support cops confiscating orbeez guns as a general rule
But I work in 911 dispatch in a different area where orbeez guns aren’t illegal, and they’ve been kind of a problem this year.
I think some of our local delinquents have taken to freezing the balls or modifying their guns to shoot faster or something, because we have had a few injuries and broken windows and such linked to orbeez guns this year.
Even without that, they’re a pretty significant nuisance that have started a lot of fights because no one likes being pelted with orbeez.
And of course there’s the problem that exists with all toy guns where if you paint them black or are running around with them in the dark it can be hard to tell them apart from a real gun which is asking for trouble.
And the countless calls I’ve gotten from neighborhood karens who “don’t think it’s safe” or “that they shouldn’t be doing that here” is getting kind of old.
And not for nothing, orbeez can be really slow to break down in the environment and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re contributing to our microplastics problem.
If there is a way to twist the interpretation of a law to say that orbeez guns are illegal, I’m not at all surprised to hear about cops doing just that. Not that I generally support that, but if you caught me on a bad day after I took a bunch of calls about kids with them, I might be tempted to sign a petition to get them banned.
As someone who has regularly carried a variety of knives and multi tools almost every day of my life, I also can’t say I’m a fan of their knife laws.
That said, as-written, I don’t find them to be quite as bad as a lot of people make them out to be (how the police choose to interpret and enforce those laws is sort of a different matter)
It’s not the sort of knife I normally choose to carry, but all of the reasons I normally carry and use a knife for can be done perfectly safely and effectively with something like a regular Swiss army knife with a 2.5inch non-locking blade which should generally be ok to carry for no particular reason.
It should be noted that I do not carry a knife for any self-defense purposes. I feel very little need to defend myself, and even if I did a knife would be just about my last choice after pretty much any other object in arm’s reach. Even though where I am, I could pretty much walk around town carrying a halberd for self defense if I really wanted to and it would be legal, I actually do tend to choose my EDC knives to be pretty inoffensive-looking free of any unnecessary point/stabby bits and if possible.
And cases that really require more knife than that aren’t exactly part of my usual everyday carry scenario, and the appropriate knives for those occasions should be covered under the lawful justification and reasonable use exemptions (again, how the police actually apply those laws can leave something to be desired, but that’s often a problem here too)
Again, not a fan of their knife laws, but in the grand scheme, I’m not nearly as outraged by them as a lot of people are.
Seems like the law was meant to exclude the full-size Swiss army knife. They’re great for most pocket knife purposes! But having damaged nerves on two fingertips from non-locking knives, yeah, I won’t touch one. Although the “classic” is a great everyday pocket knife!
Funny enough, I was hiking today with a small "Rambo knife affixed to my backpack strap. Do I need that on a hike in the woods? LOL, hardly ever. But it’s nice to have when I do need it.
Thanks for saying all that! We’re clearly on the same page.
U.K. politicians seeing what’s happening in the U.S. and getting ideas. But since the U.K. doesn’t have any actual rights like in the U.S. they can enact their bullshit faster.
What is happening in the UK in the last year or so? I keep seeing crazy headlines like this every so often.
The online safety act requiring ID, police showing up at old people’s houses for their Facebook/twitter posts, or that one time someone suggested they would try to extradite Americans for the same thing. Where is this coming from all of a sudden?
The centre left government are afraid of losing voters to the far right party, so they’re cutting out the middle man and implementing crazy authoritarian policies first.
Labour won in a landslide after the Brexit mess rightfully fucked up the Tories. They do this because they aren’t center left, but a right/far-right party by their ideology now. They don’t have to do this. They want to do this.
The “Labour/Social Democratic” parties all over Europe have been sliding into right/far-right authoritarianism and Racism over the past decades, after many of them slided into Neoliberalism at the end of the 90s and in the 2000s.
Also worth noting that they only won by a landslide because the Tories lost loads of voters because people were so fed up with them. Labour actually got less votes this election than they did previously when they lost
It could just be the parts of the internet I inhabit, but I don’t think it’s really a recent thing, I think it’s just hitting a point where the masses are really starting to take notice of it.
I’m pretty sure I remember seeing memes about CCTV cameras and such in the UK about 20 years ago now, and I don’t think it’s an accident that things like 1984 and V for Vendetta were written by British authors and set there.
As an outsider, it’s certainly looked to me like the UK has been kind of a nanny state for a long time, and it’s not a long walk from there to the kind of bullshit we’re seeing more of now.
FFS, you can’t carry a 3" pocket knife and if you carry any pocket knife it has to be the dangerous kind that doesn’t lock.
You can’t have a tiny pot metal Zelda sword letter opener that’s dull. Ridiculous place it is. 4 fucking months.
Reminds me of NYC cops bragging about taking away pellet guns.
“You… you can’t be serious?!”
And guess where ICE is operating. I’ll give you three guesses, but you’re only going to need one.
Yeah that’s ridiculous. Not 4 month sentence ridiculous, but pretty ridiculous.
Not that I really support cops confiscating orbeez guns as a general rule
But I work in 911 dispatch in a different area where orbeez guns aren’t illegal, and they’ve been kind of a problem this year.
I think some of our local delinquents have taken to freezing the balls or modifying their guns to shoot faster or something, because we have had a few injuries and broken windows and such linked to orbeez guns this year.
Even without that, they’re a pretty significant nuisance that have started a lot of fights because no one likes being pelted with orbeez.
And of course there’s the problem that exists with all toy guns where if you paint them black or are running around with them in the dark it can be hard to tell them apart from a real gun which is asking for trouble.
And the countless calls I’ve gotten from neighborhood karens who “don’t think it’s safe” or “that they shouldn’t be doing that here” is getting kind of old.
And not for nothing, orbeez can be really slow to break down in the environment and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re contributing to our microplastics problem.
If there is a way to twist the interpretation of a law to say that orbeez guns are illegal, I’m not at all surprised to hear about cops doing just that. Not that I generally support that, but if you caught me on a bad day after I took a bunch of calls about kids with them, I might be tempted to sign a petition to get them banned.
As someone who has regularly carried a variety of knives and multi tools almost every day of my life, I also can’t say I’m a fan of their knife laws.
That said, as-written, I don’t find them to be quite as bad as a lot of people make them out to be (how the police choose to interpret and enforce those laws is sort of a different matter)
It’s not the sort of knife I normally choose to carry, but all of the reasons I normally carry and use a knife for can be done perfectly safely and effectively with something like a regular Swiss army knife with a 2.5inch non-locking blade which should generally be ok to carry for no particular reason.
It should be noted that I do not carry a knife for any self-defense purposes. I feel very little need to defend myself, and even if I did a knife would be just about my last choice after pretty much any other object in arm’s reach. Even though where I am, I could pretty much walk around town carrying a halberd for self defense if I really wanted to and it would be legal, I actually do tend to choose my EDC knives to be pretty inoffensive-looking free of any unnecessary point/stabby bits and if possible.
And cases that really require more knife than that aren’t exactly part of my usual everyday carry scenario, and the appropriate knives for those occasions should be covered under the lawful justification and reasonable use exemptions (again, how the police actually apply those laws can leave something to be desired, but that’s often a problem here too)
Again, not a fan of their knife laws, but in the grand scheme, I’m not nearly as outraged by them as a lot of people are.
Seems like the law was meant to exclude the full-size Swiss army knife. They’re great for most pocket knife purposes! But having damaged nerves on two fingertips from non-locking knives, yeah, I won’t touch one. Although the “classic” is a great everyday pocket knife!
Funny enough, I was hiking today with a small "Rambo knife affixed to my backpack strap. Do I need that on a hike in the woods? LOL, hardly ever. But it’s nice to have when I do need it.
Thanks for saying all that! We’re clearly on the same page.
You’re probably right. I bet I’m being US-centric to just assume everyone there values free speech/expression with the same cultural intensity.
Whats been happening? Betrail in the people. The biggest in UK history
U.K. politicians seeing what’s happening in the U.S. and getting ideas. But since the U.K. doesn’t have any actual rights like in the U.S. they can enact their bullshit faster.