4 ms·

This made me chuckle, just a few years ago we were up in arms against Chinas great firewall, I know this is not on the same scale but its still a restriction on

This made me chuckle, just a few years ago we were up in arms against Chinas great firewall, I know this is not on the same scale but its still a restriction on what people can report on and now who is to say whether there will be political bias in shutting down certain posts?

dajohnson89 8y ago
There's a pretty alarming trend of mass surveillance and censorship in the UK.
- pjc50 8y ago
  Not so much a trend as something that has always been there, for those of us old enough to remember when an MP was legally barred from having his voice heard on television. The security state has a heavy hand, and was only really restrained by ECHR in the late 90s.
- arethuza 8y ago
  The strongly authoritarian streak has always been there in UK culture - at least we've stopped the mass arrests, imprisonment without trial and torture of UK citizens that we had in the 1970s.
evancox100 8y ago
Define "we", because AFAICT Europe has always leaned towards restricting freedom of speech when necessary for the (claimed) overall benefit of society. See for example the right to be forgotten law.
superkuh 8y ago
Yup. The proposed cures are significantly worse than the problems. Once you bring in the government you have violence involved. There's no need for the use of force here.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  Are the British government known for their violence?
  - pjc50 8y ago
    Not in the absurd libertarian sense that the parent is using "violence" to mean "law enforcement", but ... shall we say that while it's not a common feature of everyday life and politics the British state is not above deploying violence against the public to suppress certain kinds of politics? Orgreave/Bloody Sunday/kettling etc etc? (Anyone remember the weird incident where MI5 insisted on the secure destruction of a Guardian laptop?)
  - raxxorrax 8y ago
    Yes?! The British government also creates fake news to sway the public to support the invasion of a foreign country.
  - C1sc0cat 8y ago
    In the past yes sent tanks to Glasgow after world war 1

dajohnson89 8y ago

There's a pretty alarming trend of mass surveillance and censorship in the UK.

pjc50 8y ago
Not so much a trend as something that has always been there, for those of us old enough to remember when an MP was legally barred from having his voice heard on television. The security state has a heavy hand, and was only really restrained by ECHR in the late 90s.
arethuza 8y ago
The strongly authoritarian streak has always been there in UK culture - at least we've stopped the mass arrests, imprisonment without trial and torture of UK citizens that we had in the 1970s.

evancox100 8y ago

Define "we", because AFAICT Europe has always leaned towards restricting freedom of speech when necessary for the (claimed) overall benefit of society. See for example the right to be forgotten law.

superkuh 8y ago

Yup. The proposed cures are significantly worse than the problems. Once you bring in the government you have violence involved. There's no need for the use of force here.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
Are the British government known for their violence?
- pjc50 8y ago
  Not in the absurd libertarian sense that the parent is using "violence" to mean "law enforcement", but ... shall we say that while it's not a common feature of everyday life and politics the British state is not above deploying violence against the public to suppress certain kinds of politics? Orgreave/Bloody Sunday/kettling etc etc? (Anyone remember the weird incident where MI5 insisted on the secure destruction of a Guardian laptop?)
- raxxorrax 8y ago
  Yes?! The British government also creates fake news to sway the public to support the invasion of a foreign country.
- C1sc0cat 8y ago
  In the past yes sent tanks to Glasgow after world war 1