2025-07-25 - OFCOM: "Ofcom engagement - Availability of KiwiFarms in UK"

  • 🏰 The Fediverse is up. If you know, you know.
  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
An Idle Observer said:
TBH, I don't see it happening quietly if this is the goal. It'd be overt. JD Vance has already taken inroads to shaming the UK for censorship and rights violations, I heard yesterday that they've already commissioned a human rights report on them and it is not glowing, so we've already postured ourselves for a more overt, "Told you so," kind of stance. I was vague with committed resources in no small part because I could easily see the US not getting militarily involved over entirely diplomatically/culturally. The revolution will not be served without Big Macs and a Coke kind of deal.
Click to expand...
The US should just annex the UK. Kill Starmer, Khan and the rest of their leaders, niggers and muslims. problem solved.
DavidS877 said:
Sadly the US doesn't have enough money in the budget to provide the necessary dental care to the UK if it were made a US holding.
Click to expand...
It cost money to invade?
 
Ars Technica: 4chan refuses to pay UK Online Safety Act fines, asks Trump admin to intervene (archive)

The National Law Review: A (Byrne &) Storm is Brewing – Do Not Ignore the Online Safety Act’s International Reach (archive)

4chan still getting all the attention (might be a good thing). Although this outlet did mention us:

The Record: US warns tech companies against complying with European and British ‘censorship’ laws (archive)
Officials in Westminster have been bracing for a clash with Vice President JD Vance over its online safety laws, particularly in the wake of Vance chastising European countries for attempts to regulate free speech. More extreme platforms including 4chan, Gab and Kiwi Farms have to-date publicly refused to comply with British regulations. In extremis, ISPs in the country could be instructed to block access to those sites.
Click to expand...
 
CansOfCant said:
Forgive me - I read through this, and it seemed to me that they were strongly suggesting platforms roll over for OFCOM. Am I misreading this or is it more 'take them seriously because they could fuck you up upstream?'
Click to expand...
You have correctly identified the chickenshit conclusion of the article.

It's possible that bigger platforms with more risk will roll over or provide UK-specific workarounds. But sites like 4chan and Kiwi Farms?

Ofcom may restrict access in the UK to the entire platform or specific services. This is not dependent on where the online platform is based and would impact platform traffic.
Click to expand...
Anybody remotely chudly in the UK has to figure out how to use VPNs. It's practically a requirement for Britbongs now. The next big fight will probably be over restricting/criminalizing VPN use. I don't know if they could even do that effectively, but people could move over to using Tor and see how far the UK will go in emulating China.

individuals overseas could attract criminal penalties in fines and/or imprisonment. It provides Ofcom with greater reach globally, particularly under the Mutual Legal Assistance framework or other criminal extradition frameworks. It also means these individuals travelling to the UK may risk arrest.
Click to expand...
The US already has a law preventing extradition for speechcrime. Not traveling to the UK is already its own reward.

It would be crazy if someone traveled to or merely through Ireland, Spain, or wherever and was extradited to the UK for running an "extremist" website.
 
The Mass Shooter Ron Soye said:
Anybody remotely chudly in the UK has to figure out how to use VPNs. It's practically a requirement for Britbongs now. The next big fight will probably be over restricting/criminalizing VPN use. I don't know if they could even do that effectively, but people could move over to using Tor and see how far the UK will go in emulating China.
Click to expand...
Try to outlaw VPN use and you outlaw a lot of mandatory bank security because almost all banking operations MUST use VPNs of some sort. If they don't, they're violating other laws about security.
 
I wouldn't put it beyond any government - even ours - to say 'Oi, all VPN's used for corporate security/remote work must have these connection properties and be properly loicensed for corporate use.'

Edit: and by 'ours' I mean burgers.
 
AnOminous said:
Try to outlaw VPN use and you outlaw a lot of mandatory bank security because almost all banking operations MUST use VPNs of some sort. If they don't, they're violating other laws about security.
Click to expand...
They can have carveouts for anything related to banking or corporations.

They could even do nothing at all to detect VPN use, but just make an extra charge they can throw at you if you get caught posting hate speech.

Whatever the case, more stupid shit is about to go down in the UK. Looks like the current meme is age verification to use a VPN:

BBC: Stop children using VPNs to watch porn, ministers told (archive)

City AM: Brits call for VPN ban for minors to curb Online Safety Act loopholes (archive)

Politico: Britain’s MPs charge VPNs to expenses as minister urges caution (archive)
A POLITICO analysis of MPs’ expenses data shows that British lawmakers, including senior government ministers, are using commercial VPN software — and have charged their subscriptions to the public on expenses.
Click to expand...

Tech Radar: UK businesses are replacing VPNs with proxy services because of 'tighter regulations' and expected 'restrictions' (archive)
This is not about traditional business VPNs (such as SonicWall, Cisco AnyConnect, or Fortinet) that secure employee access to internal networks, but rather about specialist VPN services used for external online operations.

As a result of growing uncertainty, companies are increasingly turning to proxy services, which offer greater flexibility and fewer compliance concerns than VPNs.
Click to expand...

The Register: End well, this won't: UK commissioner suggests govt stops kids from using VPNs (archive)

The Telegraph: The VPNs allowing youngsters to bypass Online Safety Act rules (archive)
New age restrictions have boosted their soaring popularity, but are virtual private networks safe?
Click to expand...

UK Tech News: VPNs could face under-18 UK ban (archive)
A new poll from YouGov found that 55% of UK adults were in favour of banning VPNs for under-18s, with concern that legislative efforts to prevent children from accessing harmful digital content are being undermined by the technology.
Click to expand...

The cattle narrowly support it, at least according to the completely unbiased and unmanipulated YouGov.
 
Last edited:
Well there you have it folks, YouGov have spoken, and if you can't trust YouGov poll results that always seems to coincide with whatever position the government are pushing, then who can you trust? I feel completely safe that my government is finally taking control of the wild and dangerous world of the Internet and will gladly stop noticing anything Non government approved from this point forward. #FreePalpatine Rainbowflag Ukraineflag Deathstarflag
 
when will the bongs realize that the internet is inherently unsafe and there is no way you will ever be able to make it "safe" ever? not for shitskins who chimp out when someone makes fun of their favorite child rapist, not for trannies who attempt suicide whenever someone calls xem the wrong pronoun, and especially not for children.

but no, these inbred island retards will continue trying to invent water that isnt wet and fire that doesnt singe, and theyre going to be incredibly surprised when they find out that this dry water wont wash off dirt and the cold fire wont cook your food, but itll be too late because doing things the normal way will have been outlawed for 50 years by then
 
Lapsus of the bepsus said:
when will the bongs realize that the internet is inherently unsafe and there is no way you will ever be able to make it "safe" ever? not for shitskins who chimp out when someone makes fun of their favorite child rapist, not for trannies who attempt suicide whenever someone calls xem the wrong pronoun, and especially not for children.

but no, these inbred island retards will continue trying to invent water that isnt wet and fire that doesnt singe, and theyre going to be incredibly surprised when they find out that this dry water wont wash off dirt and the cold fire wont cook your food, but itll be too late because doing things the normal way will have been outlawed for 50 years by then
Click to expand...
The internet will be beat down into a nice comfy CableTV shaped box eventually. They lost in 2016 cause of the internet, several safe industries have been disrupted without permission of the boomers or techbrows cause of the internet, Brexit arguably happened because of the internet. They cannot risk allowing us to have the kind of freedom that the internet offers.
 
HTTP Error 404 said:
The internet will be beat down into a nice comfy CableTV shaped box eventually. They lost in 2016 cause of the internet, several safe industries have been disrupted without permission of the boomers or techbrows cause of the internet, Brexit arguably happened because of the internet. They cannot risk allowing us to have the kind of freedom that the internet offers.
Click to expand...
Everything old is new again.
jb4266hn2pnb1.webp
 
HTTP Error 404 said:
The internet will be beat down into a nice comfy CableTV shaped box eventually. They lost in 2016 cause of the internet, several safe industries have been disrupted without permission of the boomers or techbrows cause of the internet, Brexit arguably happened because of the internet. They cannot risk allowing us to have the kind of freedom that the internet offers.
Click to expand...

Every single thing they do to tamp down on it will make the situation worse - which gives me a good opportunity to address the OFCOM-affiliated UK Glowies almost certainly monitoring the site (while coping and seething, presumably):

Do you, my hypothetical glow-in-the-dark, know why every single thing done to tamp down on the situation will make it worse?
If not, worry not: Grampy Jaimas will explain.

The common belief amongst people (like you) who are still angry about 2016 (again, like you) is that the losses they took were illegitimate, and aberrations like Trump's win or Brexit only happened because the internet made widespread information on the matters at hand available. Without the meddling of ne'er-do-wells on the internet, they (and you) presuppose, nobody would have voted for the Donald, let alone let him win three times, or voted for Brexit.

If only the internet hadn't enabled bad actors.

Of course, the problem with that presupposition is that the Internet did not create the situations that led to Trump or Brexit. Both of those things were decades in the making. Quite the contrary, both those situations have a universal origin point: a complete failure to address the concerns of the electorate.

We're going to start by addressing the crazy orange diamond first, because he's much easier to codify: in a proper, functioning system, candidates like Trump (and indeed, like Sanders in 2016) do not happen - they are a symptom of the system breaking down. Indeed, reformists like Trump are a necessary component of a functioning government, as it is both prudent and wise to periodically re-orient based on new paradigms, especially when it is becoming clear that existing policies are not fit for purpose. People had been complaining about the Democrats' handling of the border (and Republicans pathologically shitting their pants and doing nothing) for nearly 20 years before Trump ran on shutting that shit down. By the time he did in 2016, over 60% of the electorate believed that shutting down the border should be a priority. The Internet did not make this level of discontent happen; the dumbfuck policies of the establishment class in the US and forcing these policies on an electorate who got tired of bending over and taking it did - which is a reminder as well that Trump did not create MAGA: He inherited it.

In the case of Brexit, we have a similar situation: The internet did not make the widespread discontent that led to Brexit happen; the UK's own obduracy in forcing top-down policy and ignoring the consequences of its own stupid actions was. At every single election since at least 1980 by my reckoning, the UK has pretty much unilaterally voted in favor of ending migrant-friendly policies, only to have elected representatives get in and refuse to do anything but intensify those policies. The belief that somehow, you will be able to tamp down dissent hard enough to stop the proles from getting uppity should have been put to bed about the time the Rotherham scandal broke, but in case it isn't obvious: if you want more dissent, if you want your own citizenry to start getting ready to do some shit you really are not going to like and won't be able to stop, please, continue to try to crack down on dissenters. It's what every fucking accelerationist wants, and you seem pretty keen on giving it to them. They couldn't ask for better allies than you.

But all that is set dressing before the bigger issue, which is thus: You've lost. There is no win to be had, no reality in which you can damage control this genie back into the bottle, no future in which you stand triumphant against your critics. Even if you get every single win you want (and you won't), it won't avail you, because the ones causing the problems in the first place are the ones you're working for, and, as evidenced by you reading this post, they have no fucking idea how to do that.

Let Grampy Jaimas give some advice: they have no idea because in the entirety of human history, no one ever has succeeded at this. Countries with better intentions than you and countries with less morals than you have both tried to enact the type of scorched-earth, top-down, restrictive attempts to completely shut down discussion, and it has failed every single time. It failed before the internet, and it's going to fail with or without it. Even in China, where discussion of most issues is most verboten by the government, news of China's latest fuck-up reaches western ears.

Your loss is a bygone conclusion; the only questions are when, how, where, and with how much intensity. We already have some betting pools going.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom