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While I don't want to be cynical, I fear that politicians who will actually have the power to vote in the matter are going to say: This is an attack by [Russia,

While I don't want to be cynical, I fear that politicians who will actually have the power to vote in the matter are going to say: This is an attack by [Russia, EU, bots, project fear, etc.]. Just like they do for the Article 13 protests, it's all orchestrated by Facebook, Google etc. What can you do when your own politicians are the equivalent of 911-truthers?

Sir_Substance 8y ago
They don't really need to do that. The last time I saw the UK parliment petition website being talked about, it was over the snoopers charter. The website said "Any petition that reaches 100k signatures will be debated in parliment", and the "repeal the snoopers charter" petition hit 100k within a day or two of opening and kept going up. The parliament responded by updating the wording on the website to say "any petition that hits 100k will be /considered/ for debate in parliament" and then released a statement saying "we've considered it, but we've already passed it so no". I've never heard of a petition on a topic of any substance on one of these petition websites achieving anything. It's a PR stunt, the British public should consider blockading the entrance to all british airports with those trucks that are going to be stuck at the border instead.
matt4077 8y ago
I believe the Article 13 protests have so far been a very good demonstration of the mechanisms of democracy still working quite well. Even though only a rather small minority of citizen has any interest in the topic, they have been effective in putting it on the public agenda. They organized (completely peaceful) protests. Journalists then covered those protests, even though their publishers' economic interests are probably on the other side. The EU parliament, often decried as undemocratic, has taken a lot of interest. Opinion is now split, often within parties and groups. It rejected an attempt to hold the vote early and bypass the large protests scheduled for Saturday. It's anyones' guess how this will end. While some of the statements, such as claims that protest emails are fake "bots" are obviously uninformed, I am similarly disappointed by the other side not recognizing some legitimate interests of creators and maybe trying to advance constructive ideas.

Sir_Substance 8y ago

They don't really need to do that. The last time I saw the UK parliment petition website being talked about, it was over the snoopers charter. The website said "Any petition that reaches 100k signatures will be debated in parliment", and the "repeal the snoopers charter" petition hit 100k within a day or two of opening and kept going up. The parliament responded by updating the wording on the website to say "any petition that hits 100k will be /considered/ for debate in parliament" and then released a statement saying "we've considered it, but we've already passed it so no". I've never heard of a petition on a topic of any substance on one of these petition websites achieving anything. It's a PR stunt, the British public should consider blockading the entrance to all british airports with those trucks that are going to be stuck at the border instead.

matt4077 8y ago

I believe the Article 13 protests have so far been a very good demonstration of the mechanisms of democracy still working quite well. Even though only a rather small minority of citizen has any interest in the topic, they have been effective in putting it on the public agenda. They organized (completely peaceful) protests. Journalists then covered those protests, even though their publishers' economic interests are probably on the other side. The EU parliament, often decried as undemocratic, has taken a lot of interest. Opinion is now split, often within parties and groups. It rejected an attempt to hold the vote early and bypass the large protests scheduled for Saturday. It's anyones' guess how this will end. While some of the statements, such as claims that protest emails are fake "bots" are obviously uninformed, I am similarly disappointed by the other side not recognizing some legitimate interests of creators and maybe trying to advance constructive ideas.