<
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/05/09/wikipedia-tells-uk-government-it-wont-comply-with-proposed-age-verification-mandates/>
"The UK government still hopes to bend the internet to its will, but it’s
constantly finding out it won’t be as easy as just declaring a bunch of stuff
illegal. Tech companies from all over the world would be affected by its
“Online Safety Bill” (originally more proactively titled the “Online Harms
Bill“). Negatively affected.
The push continues to outlaw things like end-to-end encryption, expand the
government’s power to directly regulate internet communications, and otherwise
make everyone more miserable (and less safe, ironically).
The usual suspects have been cited in support of ruining the internet: hate
speech, CSAM, etc. While the proposed measures might have some immediately
noticeable effect, those effects will likely be limited to showboat-y,
ineffectual fining of non-compliant tech companies, perhaps with a few threats
of prosecution thrown into the mix.
Notably, the bill targets
tech companies, rather than those engaging in the
activities the UK government wants to see eradicated. Tech companies are
pushing back, though. Some of the biggest providers of encrypted communication
services have already told the UK government they’ll exit the British market,
rather than make their offerings less secure.
It’s not just encryption being targeted by the UK government. The government is
also demanding service providers collect and retain more information about
their users, supposedly to ensure the proverbial children aren’t exposed to
content above their
pay age grade."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
