skyJul 17
Melissa Fehr

Are you in the UK and opposed to providing ID to use social media in the coming weeks?

There’s an official parliament petition to repeal the Online Safety Act, and it’s already at 13,000 signatures and growing: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/722903

(Not UK? Please spread the word!)

Petition: Repeal the Online Safety Act

We want the Government to repeal the Online Safety act.

Petitions - UK Government and Parliament
Jul 16 at 1:56pmWeb
Show threadNorm Tovey-WalshJul 16
@fehrtrade I fear the response is going to be "no." But I did add my name.
Show threadSweetHellerJul 16
@ndw @fehrtrade lol
Show threadSamantha XaviaJul 16
@fehrtrade Signed this and it sucks, Especially for smaller communities and the Fediverse as a whole.

I would maybe give it a slight pass if it was commuities that manage say 1k users on it (not including outside sources) as it would allow for small Fediverse Instances to be pushed and thrive but as a whole this sucks.
Show threadsonicJazzMonkeyJul 16
@fehrtrade Signed. Thanks.
Show threadRastalJul 16
@fehrtrade Can imagine anyone not wanting to obey just using a VPN.
Show threadCadbury MooseJul 16

@Rastal @fehrtrade

Presumably your VPN exit point must be somewhere outside the USA, UK and EU?

I've no idea how well this is going to work (though the Act itself is completely unworkable and complying with it may just cause a lot of people to give up and shut their systems down).

Show threadSkyport Radio4d ago
@Cadbury_Moose @Rastal @fehrtrade VPN can be anywhere except UK, but EU is working on a similar law not enacted yet.
Show threadTessiahEks (Is Not Fine)Jul 16
@fehrtrade I am so out of the loop. Is it just meta platforms and shitter? Or is here and Youtube as well?
Show threadMelissa FehrJul 16

@Tesseks It’s pretty much everywhere that allows user generated content, no matter how small.

But feel free to do a bit of research for yourself!

Show threadTessiahEks (Is Not Fine)Jul 16
@fehrtrade that is so fucked up. Thanks I will.
Show threadJennifer Moore 😷Jul 16

@Tesseks @fehrtrade

@neil has done a load of useful stuff on the Online Safety Act already, and it's here:

https://onlinesafetyact.co.uk/

OnlineSafetyAct.co.uk

Information about the UK's Online Safety Act 2023. This site is nothing to do with Ofcom.

Show threadJake  Jul 16
@Tesseks it’s everywhere. bluesky already started complying
Show threadAlexia Starling  Jul 16
@Tesseks @fehrtrade it's everything. Fedi instances have shut down because of this.
Show threadPaul SuttonJul 17

@Tesseks @fehrtrade

One of the points of this, is to stop porn sites just having two buttons, I am over 18 and I am under 18 (leave) to stop children looking at pornography. It seems kids are finding and viewing porn at a ypunger age (about 12).

For those of us who remember 'top shelf' we are not just talking about nudity (photos) but this is far more explict, videos and a wider range of content (so this is one of the main issues)

Porn hub et al has either stopped juristictions from accessing the sigte (as in some US states) and some contries, they are complying with age verification in others (e.g UK).

Social media algorithms, can tailor content by age, so by lying about your age, just to get on you end up getting content or contact that is not suitable or harmful, if the platform knows you are 11 it should stop you getting this in your feed, of course some content leads to more clicks, that equals more profit and therefore it gets put in to your feed as to Meta profit is first.

Granted the solution is to talk to your kids, but the bbc coop hack article highlighted the huge number of adults who have no idea what their kids are doing.

Show threadAutumn (Serverfop)Jul 17
@Tesseks @fehrtrade i believe, anything that could have user-uploaded content has to comply (such as all social medias), hence why bluesky added age verification recently
Show threadTrantionJul 16
@fehrtrade I already wrote to my MP about this, who replied, and I paraphrase, "¯\_(ツ)_/¯." But there's no harm in a petition too.
Show thread�Jul 16

@fehrtrade
lmfao
>The act requires platforms, including end-to-end encrypted messengers, to scan for child pornography, despite warnings from experts that it is not possible to implement such a scanning mechanism without undermining users' privacy.[6] The government has said that it does not intend to enforce this provision of the act until it becomes technically feasible to do so.

src: wikipedia

when this becomes feasible, world will have other problems

Show threadIan MoffattJul 16

@fehrtrade Signed. For all the good it’ll do.

There’s now over 14000 of us on a list 🙀

Show threadglynJul 16
@fehrtrade Signed. Hopeless legislation.
Show threadCabbidgesJul 16

@fehrtrade
It's too confusing. Somehow protecting children became (as it always does) some kind of government surveillance thing which at the same time really annoys the porn industry.

I don't like the government surveillance or the porn industry. In equal measure. It's quite possible to loathe both.

One thing I'm certain of is that children are, again, being used as a shoehorn for other agenda. I'm not joining in.

Show threadgroffJul 16
@fehrtrade The way the techbros are behaving I think there's more chance the government will move to tighten the OSA rather than repeal it.
https://www.platformer.news/grok-ani-app-store-rating-nsfw-avatar-apple/
Grok's new porn companion is rated for kids 12+ in the App Store

AI companions are arriving faster than platforms can build guardrails around them. Parents need to pay attention

Platformer
Show threadTiggyJul 16

@fehrtrade

Big tech already took too much of my data. Including copyright stuff. Why would I trust them with more?

Show threadLambicJul 16
@fehrtrade PSA: if you're a British citizen you can sign this, you don't have to be in the UK.
Show threadNina Cried PowerJul 16

@fehrtrade

I'm old enough to remember when pornography came from the top shelf of the Newsagents or under the counter at the Video Store.
Did we really need it all over the Internet too?

Show threadLatteBadgerJul 17
@Nina_cried @fehrtrade tbh it was largely inevitable, humans are weird animals
Show threadWiredfire5d ago
@BadgerGirl @Nina_cried @fehrtrade there is an awful lot of web tech we all find useful that was pioneered by porn so it has its.. applications 😅
Show threadLatteBadger5d ago
@wiredfire @Nina_cried @fehrtrade it is unfortunately true that human ingenuity is at its peak when it comes to things related to fucking and fighting
Show threadPaul SuttonJul 17

@Nina_cried @fehrtrade

Yep, I remember the infamous May 88 issue of your sinclair (zx spectrum magazine) that ended up on the top shelf.

Show threadzvhxxlJul 16
@fehrtrade In my EU country nobody can access health service or social security without the government provided social securiti number.
Still doctors or dentists or hospitals help refugees: "this is friday, the assistant is not there to register your treatment, so good luck and stay healthy"
Show threadTonyJul 17
@fehrtrade This legislation has absolutely no place in a modern British society and should never have been passed without serious amendments. There are a myriad of emergencies and services in crisis which politicians must prioritise in the #UK because of over a decade of serious incompetence and neglect but instead they have rushed through a set of laws on a topic which they demonstrably cannot possibly understand, even at the most basic of levels
Show threadMelissa FehrJul 17
@copysent 100%.
Show threadLatteBadgerJul 17
@fehrtrade thy wont do anything unfortunately starmer has made it very clear based on how quick he is to boot out rebels in the party he intends to rule as a dictator till the next GE
Show threadPaul SuttonJul 17

@fehrtrade

How much of this applies to the fediverse?

Show threadWiredfire5d ago
@zleap @fehrtrade potentially a lot of it, but a lot of instances are under the user limit or generally don't draw enough attention to themselves for these pearl-clucthing asshats to notice them. For now..
Show threadBilly Smith5d ago

@fehrtrade

Just signed. :D

Show threadMandrake 🐎5d ago
@fehrtrade I strongly encourage that everyone writes a letter to their MP about this as well (even if they're a Tory). Tell them how this legislation is smothering independent communities and free expression. Explain how age verification does not protect children effectively and instead puts British citizens at risk of identity theft. Point out how overseas websites are now starting to geoblock UK IP addresses, isolating us from the rest of the world. https://www.writetothem.com/
WriteToThem

WriteToThem is a website which provides an easy way to contact MPs, councillors and other elected representatives.

Show threadAnomnomnomaly BSC SSC4d ago

@fehrtrade

They can fuck right off, I simply changed the server I was connecting to with my VPN.