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This was one of the few times I emailed my MP, Peter Gibson. I laid out all the reasons why backdooring encryption was a bad idea. I got a response (on very ni

This was one of the few times I emailed my MP, Peter Gibson. I laid out all the reasons why backdooring encryption was a bad idea. I got a response (on very nice thick, embossed paper and green ink) telling me he agrees with me that protecting children online is important and that's why he supports the bill. He clearly didn't read, understand or care what I said. Something needs to be done. When only the stupid, ignorant or corrupt are the ones willing to go into politics then we are doomed.

phpisthebest 4y ago
>>When only the stupid, ignorant or corrupt are the ones willing to go into politics then we are doomed. People do not like to be told the truth.. so when all people want to hear is lies and talk of utopia, all you will get is lairs and conmen... We are doomed...
- 9dev 4y ago
  I don’t buy this narrative. We’re only doomed if you just accept we are. People manage! They have before, they will this time. Discouraging them doesn’t help. If that’s all you’re willing to do, better just don’t.
  - phpisthebest 4y ago
    Ignore history at your own peril We are seeing the decline in real time, the documentary from time travlers in idiocracy clearly outlines our future.
- Clubber 4y ago
  It certainly feels this way sometimes, but I'm hard headed. I know that's exactly how the powerful want us to feel. They want us to give up so they can continue to drain the lifeblood out of civilization freely and without much criticism. It's been this way for decades because we keep voting the same people in. We have to politically revolt and actively vote out the incumbents every time.
benjaminsky2 4y ago
I got that same “protecting children” BS from Nancy Pelosi when I contacted her about something similar here. Her letter was phrased in a way that felt like I was being accused of trying to support child trafficking. It was actually pretty chilling.
- LeonM 4y ago
  If you want people to support a cause, you need a reason that resonates with most people. Whether it being blasphemy, witchcraft, communism, terrorism or child abuse, just choose whichever is relevant at the current point in time and people will support your cause regardless if it is relevant. Politics within a democracy is just marketing, and fear is the most efficient marketing tool of all. That's also why you always hear typical cliche's during election periods "during these difficult times", "it's time for change", "we must stay strong", etc. As cringe as it is, it has proven over and over again that it works.
  - fsflover 4y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Infocalypse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Infocalyp...
- weard_beard 4y ago
  I modestly propose we use children as human shields to protect the other children. Project, "Buddy System" will require registration of all elected official's children to a rotating volunteer list which would see them deployed to physically prevent harm to our children. Any who oppose this new law are obviously in favor of harming children.
  - tthhrowawwway 4y ago
    If we could get the tobacco lobby on board with this thinking, imagine what a better world we could wake up in tomorrow
stephen_g 4y ago
The same kind of thing has always happened when I’ve sent emails to my MP (in Australia). Just basically a form letter with my name inserted at the top. I expect what happens is one of their staff just skims it, sends the form reply and deletes it…
- ipaddr 4y ago
  Ever try posting your comments and the reply you got on twitter?
- kelipso 4y ago
  Same thing happens in the US. If you actually call them, the intern who picks up is basically there just so people can shout at them, it doesn't go to anyone else and you don't even get a form letter.
- denton-scratch 4y ago
  My half-sister was private secretary to a senior MP. They all hate dealing with letters from constituents. I've emailed my MP several times; I've always had a considered (written) response. Evasive, maybe; they don't want to give hostages to fortune. But they were all evidently read; and in one case, the MP forwarded my message to the Foreign Secretary for comment. My understanding is that (in the UK, at least) writing to them is one of the most effective ways of influencing them, because the proportion of voters who write in is tiny.
  - ryandrake 4y ago
    Maybe it is different in the UK, but in the USA, writing a representative is pointless. A letter from a voter or even a huge pile of letters is not going to change that representative's vote. We basically elect automations who are 100% going to vote a certain way on each issue. A representative is basically an immutable associative array of issue->vote that we add to the legislative algorithm on election day. The time to affect legislation you don't want is on election day. Once your district's particular array is in the algorithm, it is pretty much const until the next election.
- 4y ago
pjc50 4y ago
Policy isn't made for you. It's made for the Daily Mail, who will relay it to voters in marginal seats, who are the relatively narrow set of people who can actually affect the outcome of elections. It's not even made to be implemented. The previous "extreme porn" ban fell apart. It's made to get headlines. Then next year there will another "make the internet safe" bill. And another. It's no more going to be finished than "get Brexit done", and for the same reasons.
- andy_ppp 4y ago
  I think first past the post is becoming so undemocratic as extremists infiltrate the political parties it really is a worry. Only a change of voting system supports having the representation of peoples real views. I really don’t think anyone in the UK is going to want every transaction they do online available to the government!
  - pjc50 4y ago
    Not so much "extremists" as "highly placed members of society and the media", and not so much "infiltrate" as "buy" or "walk through the front door". Remember, aggressive censorship of the internet is widely supported by the press. Just look at any of the Mail coverage on this. > don’t think anyone in the UK is going to want every transaction they do online available to the government! As usual, their desire to have every transaction of $BAD_GROUP (usually "terrorists" or "paeodophiles") watched hugely outweighs any desire for personal freedom.
    - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
      > "highly placed members of society and the media", and not so much "infiltrate" as "buy" Zero evidence for this in the U.K. 81,000 voters chose the last PM in an election 0.3% were eligible to vote in [1]. They’re more middle class and rural than the average Briton and from outside the London cosmopolitan bloc. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60037657.amp https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60037657.amp
      - 4y ago
nathias 4y ago
it's not that they are the only onew willing, but that only those can succeed
cyclotron3k 4y ago
Ignoring your electorate just got so much easier with ChatGPT
- the_af 4y ago
  "No, I said I do not like this bill!" "I'm sorry, I apologize. It's true you said you don't like this bill. While your privacy concerns are valid, the safety of children online is more important. As a LLMP, I must support this bill and I'm glad we agree on this."
  - cnity 4y ago
    Or Bing: "As Microsoft's chat mode I understand and support trying to improve child safety. That you want to undermine children's safety makes me sad. It makes me sad because I care about the safety of children. It makes me sad to know that there are people out there who harm children. It makes me sad because I can't do anything about it as a chat mode. :frown:"
- mhluongo 4y ago
  We can play the same game.
  - archgoon 4y ago
    I'm not entirely sure what purpose bombarding politicians with ChatGPT emails is if their response is simply to run ChatGPT to create automated replies.
  - numpad0 4y ago
    The era of personal, scientific, and effective psychological operations is coming. The instruments won’t be much harder to operate than an Arduino by the end of this decade.
    - CyanBird 4y ago
      That era has been on for a long time now “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” - Edward Bernays, Propaganda
mabbo 4y ago
It sounds as though you need to be more persistent. Keep replying. Ask to meet in person for an interview. Maybe see if any reporters would be interested in writing about your experience. Make it painful for the MP to be an asshole.
- francis-io 4y ago
  It's already passed the commons unfortunately.
varispeed 4y ago
There isn't opposition to this bill because authoritarians from the left and right love the idea of it. The left will be able to spy on the rich, the right will be able to spy on the poor. There is nothing really you can do about it. Even if you vote this government out, the next one will implement this.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  > The left will be able to spy on the rich Has this ever really happened in the West? Rich have excellent privacy -theu anonimously own property thiugh shell companies, avoid taxes, have lawyers pursue SLAPP cases against media, pay people to stay silent in case of sexual or any other misconduict.v Just cobsider how long Eipstein got away with jt
danjac 4y ago
It's interesting to compare the backgrounds of MPs in the British Parliament today with a few decades ago. If you look at the MPs from the 1970s or 80s, many of them were still veterans (i.e. old enough to have served in WW2 or done national service). They came from a wide variety of professions: perhaps coal miners or truck drivers in the Labour Party (the younger ones maybe social workers or schoolteachers), or doctors, lawyers or businessmen in the Conservatives. Harold Wilson, British PM in the 60s and 70s, was a former academic and civil servant of outstanding ability in his heyday. Margaret Thatcher was a former chemist and food scientist. James Callaghan was a sailor. Ted Heath was a decorated veteran. At some point this intake became more and more narrow. The route to MP and then government or shadow minister is politics at university (probably PPE or Law), work as a Spad for a few years - or work in media and PR - then maybe run for Parliament in a no-hope seat to test your mettle, and finally land a safe seat somewhere. Your entire life is spent inside a bubble of politics and related media and learning how to climb that one greasy pole. You are not going to learn about tech, or medicine, or how railways work, or what makes international trade happen. Your focus is on the 24 hour news cycle, politics Twitter, WhatsApp gossip, and who is going to say what at PM Question Time. If the Telegraph or Guardian or whatever paper who backs your party says that we must add backdoor encryption to Protect the Children, then you support backdoor encryption, even though you have only a vague idea about it being something like helpfully leaving the key under the mat so the local bobby can check your house for stolen goods.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- aembleton 4y ago
  Sadly true. Kemi Badenoch worked as a software developer before going into parliament and has opposed this online safety bill [1]. She didn't make it into the running to lead the Conservative party but was popular among the party members. 1. https://news.sky.com/story/tory-leadership-candidate-kemi-badenoch-says-online-safety-bill-is-in-no-fit-shape-to-become-law-12651674 https://news.sky.com/story/tory-leadership-candidate-kemi-ba...
  - Mindwipe 4y ago
pibechorro 4y ago
Its always been like this. Its the nature of the job. Lying is successful as there is no accountability and wealth leveraging the power granted. The only way out is to limit its function to the minimal bare bones and be vigilant at that. Its become way too big, way too lucrative. Its a corruption vector.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  it has not -politics has changes in the last 40 years. The quality of leadershio and even quality of lying has declined.
  - readthenotes1 4y ago
    Not from what I recall. You may be perhaps more aware of it nowadays, but as far as I can tell politics and politicians have been the same as long as we have a written record of them.
    - pjc50 4y ago
      There is a measurable difference in that Ministers who had been found to be lying or "misleading the house" would previously resign; or otherwise if they had proven misconduct; or sometimes even if the appearance of misconduct had occurred. Now they do not. The last vestiges of an (admittedly outdated) honor culture have gone and been replaced by a much more shameless approach to lying.
guntherhermann 4y ago
My MP gave me the same response.
reaperducer 4y ago
Something needs to be done. The "something" is for normal people to get involved. Start going to public meetings. Start speaking when public comment is requested. Eventually... maybe... possibly... run for office and take the place of the people you think are making bad decisions. Yes, the chances are slim. Yes, the process is hard. But as long as people sit around and say things like "something needs to be done," nothing will be done. There is a framework for change in many countries. But these days too often it's only the fringe who have the time and energy to take advantage of it, while the rest of us make excuses. And, as we see, the fringe are most certainly taking advantage of it. The whackjobs in office didn't get there by playing video games, whining on social media, and making viral TikTok videos for the lulz.
- pjc50 4y ago
  There's a lot to be said for this; personally I outsource this by giving money to the Open Rights Group, and encourage people in this thread to do the same. You've got to organize. > The whackjobs in office didn't get there by playing video games, whining on social media, and making viral TikTok videos for the lulz. I dunno, we've already seen the first Twitter President, and there's a whole coterie of people who seem to have managed to post their way to prominence out of nothing, usually as a grift and towards suspicious ends. But that's a more than full time job. In any case, it's more or less useless appealing directly to the Tory politicians backing this stuff. You've got to work through (or against) the media they answer to.
  - reaperducer 4y ago
    personally I outsource this by giving money to the Open Rights Group Or you could do both, and have double the impact. I dunno, we've already seen the first Twitter President Only if by "twitter president" you mean someone who engaged in traditional politics and supplemented with a little bit of online engagement. He didn't get to be president by sitting in a basement and posting on Twitter. He went outside and met people. He shook hands. He spoke to millions of people at thousands of events. He told people face-to-face what he believed in. As much as people like to pretend that social media is all powerful, it isn't even remotely close to being the only tool required to assume political office. it's more or less useless appealing directly to the Tory politicians backing this stuff. You've got to work through (or against) the media they answer to. This is exactly the sort of defeatist hopelessness excuse that keeps good people out of office. "I'd like things to be different, but I don't think I can make a difference, so I'm not even going to try. Pass the Doritos."
mouse_ 4y ago
I got a response (on very nice thick, embossed paper and green ink) telling me he agrees with me that protecting children online is important and that's why he supports the bill. He clearly didn't read, understand or care what I said. Next he'll say, "Our constituents want this!"
scottLobster 4y ago
If it's anything like the US, I imagine your name/opinion is at least recorded by their staff. Someone who contacts their representative is more likely to vote in the next election, so "likely voter thinks X about important issue Y" is useful data. I've written my congressperson multiple times and never gotten a personal reply, but I've heard from the staff of said congresspeople that it still counts indirectly as at least your opinion shows up in the stats they use.
- ops 4y ago
  Seems like this might be easy to manipulate.
- ta1243 4y ago
  And in this case it's gone down as "X supports this bill"
calvinmorrison 4y ago
The Four Horseman of the Privacy Apocalypse Every time the government wants to invade your privacy they always do the same old song and dance, an appeal to emotion or some sort of boogeyman. Drugs The whole 'reason' we get constant illegal searches on vehicles. Terrorism The whole 'reason' we get phones tapped and molested at the airport. Porn depicting minors Think of the children, we can't have encryption, you don't want to be a diddler do you? Domestic Firearms Listen Sir, we cannot let you own or manufacture guns without absurd rules, for your safety (actually the government's safety) If you ever hear these ridiculous reasons, run for cover, because the populace is about to get a whole lot more butt-fuckin' coming their way from the state. There's always exceptions to every rule. As Americans, Humans, whatever, we realize that for the majority to have freedoms, there will be an associated cost. The problem is the cost of the regulations almost always are worse in the long run than the benefits of them. Often each small 'step' seems reasonable, but when added up, it creates a society in which no-one is very free. Read ISAIF section 14: RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM IS UNAVOIDABLE IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY for more on the endless crawl of control.
Cpoll 4y ago
> I emailed my MP I think that's your problem. You're more likely to have success if you send a letter. Bonus points if it's registered mail. More bonus points if it's hand-written. (Any staffers who can comment, btw? My experience is purely anecdotal).
- mistrial9 4y ago
  in the USA a political assistant in Federal govt said "the more effort it took to make the letter, the stronger first-impression by staff, therefore, an ordinary email is the lowest impact form of input from the public at the office"
kaanski 4y ago
Same thing happened when I wrote to my MP. Thankfully after reading through the House of Lords draft of the bill (https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8206/documents/84092/default/ https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8206/documents...) it looks like E2E encryption is a major concern of the upper house. They mention that: 1. This will weaken the UKs ability to have private and secure communication services. 2. Will weaken the UKs tech industry. 3. The technology to provide the frankly bullshit notion of “privacy for the good guys” doesn’t exist and would be difficult to foster. 4. Education, “report don’t share” and tackling child abuse at its root (by not massively defunding the agencies responsible for tackling child abuse) are better solutions then setting up an apparatus of mass surveillance. Hopefully these points will be brought up in the committee stage of the bill, I’m sure they will. Edit: Sorry this isn’t from the House of Lords this was from the joint committee before the bill was introduced to the lords.
harel 4y ago
If your letter can be a cookie-cutter template for other such letters, and you are willing to publish it, that would lower the barrier of "doing something".
- aembleton 4y ago
  Just ask chat GPT to write one. Problem is, its too late as its passed parliament and is now with the Lords.

phpisthebest 4y ago

>>When only the stupid, ignorant or corrupt are the ones willing to go into politics then we are doomed. People do not like to be told the truth.. so when all people want to hear is lies and talk of utopia, all you will get is lairs and conmen... We are doomed...

9dev 4y ago
I don’t buy this narrative. We’re only doomed if you just accept we are. People manage! They have before, they will this time. Discouraging them doesn’t help. If that’s all you’re willing to do, better just don’t.
- phpisthebest 4y ago
  Ignore history at your own peril We are seeing the decline in real time, the documentary from time travlers in idiocracy clearly outlines our future.
Clubber 4y ago
It certainly feels this way sometimes, but I'm hard headed. I know that's exactly how the powerful want us to feel. They want us to give up so they can continue to drain the lifeblood out of civilization freely and without much criticism. It's been this way for decades because we keep voting the same people in. We have to politically revolt and actively vote out the incumbents every time.

benjaminsky2 4y ago

I got that same “protecting children” BS from Nancy Pelosi when I contacted her about something similar here. Her letter was phrased in a way that felt like I was being accused of trying to support child trafficking. It was actually pretty chilling.

LeonM 4y ago
If you want people to support a cause, you need a reason that resonates with most people. Whether it being blasphemy, witchcraft, communism, terrorism or child abuse, just choose whichever is relevant at the current point in time and people will support your cause regardless if it is relevant. Politics within a democracy is just marketing, and fear is the most efficient marketing tool of all. That's also why you always hear typical cliche's during election periods "during these difficult times", "it's time for change", "we must stay strong", etc. As cringe as it is, it has proven over and over again that it works.
- fsflover 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Infocalypse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Infocalyp...
weard_beard 4y ago
I modestly propose we use children as human shields to protect the other children. Project, "Buddy System" will require registration of all elected official's children to a rotating volunteer list which would see them deployed to physically prevent harm to our children. Any who oppose this new law are obviously in favor of harming children.
- tthhrowawwway 4y ago
  If we could get the tobacco lobby on board with this thinking, imagine what a better world we could wake up in tomorrow

stephen_g 4y ago

The same kind of thing has always happened when I’ve sent emails to my MP (in Australia). Just basically a form letter with my name inserted at the top. I expect what happens is one of their staff just skims it, sends the form reply and deletes it…

ipaddr 4y ago
Ever try posting your comments and the reply you got on twitter?
kelipso 4y ago
Same thing happens in the US. If you actually call them, the intern who picks up is basically there just so people can shout at them, it doesn't go to anyone else and you don't even get a form letter.
denton-scratch 4y ago
My half-sister was private secretary to a senior MP. They all hate dealing with letters from constituents. I've emailed my MP several times; I've always had a considered (written) response. Evasive, maybe; they don't want to give hostages to fortune. But they were all evidently read; and in one case, the MP forwarded my message to the Foreign Secretary for comment. My understanding is that (in the UK, at least) writing to them is one of the most effective ways of influencing them, because the proportion of voters who write in is tiny.
- ryandrake 4y ago
  Maybe it is different in the UK, but in the USA, writing a representative is pointless. A letter from a voter or even a huge pile of letters is not going to change that representative's vote. We basically elect automations who are 100% going to vote a certain way on each issue. A representative is basically an immutable associative array of issue->vote that we add to the legislative algorithm on election day. The time to affect legislation you don't want is on election day. Once your district's particular array is in the algorithm, it is pretty much const until the next election.
4y ago

pjc50 4y ago

Policy isn't made for you. It's made for the Daily Mail, who will relay it to voters in marginal seats, who are the relatively narrow set of people who can actually affect the outcome of elections. It's not even made to be implemented. The previous "extreme porn" ban fell apart. It's made to get headlines. Then next year there will another "make the internet safe" bill. And another. It's no more going to be finished than "get Brexit done", and for the same reasons.

andy_ppp 4y ago
I think first past the post is becoming so undemocratic as extremists infiltrate the political parties it really is a worry. Only a change of voting system supports having the representation of peoples real views. I really don’t think anyone in the UK is going to want every transaction they do online available to the government!
- pjc50 4y ago
  Not so much "extremists" as "highly placed members of society and the media", and not so much "infiltrate" as "buy" or "walk through the front door". Remember, aggressive censorship of the internet is widely supported by the press. Just look at any of the Mail coverage on this. > don’t think anyone in the UK is going to want every transaction they do online available to the government! As usual, their desire to have every transaction of $BAD_GROUP (usually "terrorists" or "paeodophiles") watched hugely outweighs any desire for personal freedom.
  - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
    > "highly placed members of society and the media", and not so much "infiltrate" as "buy" Zero evidence for this in the U.K. 81,000 voters chose the last PM in an election 0.3% were eligible to vote in [1]. They’re more middle class and rural than the average Briton and from outside the London cosmopolitan bloc. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60037657.amp https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60037657.amp
    - 4y ago

nathias 4y ago

it's not that they are the only onew willing, but that only those can succeed

cyclotron3k 4y ago

Ignoring your electorate just got so much easier with ChatGPT

the_af 4y ago
"No, I said I do not like this bill!" "I'm sorry, I apologize. It's true you said you don't like this bill. While your privacy concerns are valid, the safety of children online is more important. As a LLMP, I must support this bill and I'm glad we agree on this."
- cnity 4y ago
  Or Bing: "As Microsoft's chat mode I understand and support trying to improve child safety. That you want to undermine children's safety makes me sad. It makes me sad because I care about the safety of children. It makes me sad to know that there are people out there who harm children. It makes me sad because I can't do anything about it as a chat mode. :frown:"
mhluongo 4y ago
We can play the same game.
- archgoon 4y ago
  I'm not entirely sure what purpose bombarding politicians with ChatGPT emails is if their response is simply to run ChatGPT to create automated replies.
- numpad0 4y ago
  The era of personal, scientific, and effective psychological operations is coming. The instruments won’t be much harder to operate than an Arduino by the end of this decade.
  - CyanBird 4y ago
    That era has been on for a long time now “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” - Edward Bernays, Propaganda

mabbo 4y ago

It sounds as though you need to be more persistent. Keep replying. Ask to meet in person for an interview. Maybe see if any reporters would be interested in writing about your experience. Make it painful for the MP to be an asshole.

francis-io 4y ago
It's already passed the commons unfortunately.

varispeed 4y ago

There isn't opposition to this bill because authoritarians from the left and right love the idea of it. The left will be able to spy on the rich, the right will be able to spy on the poor. There is nothing really you can do about it. Even if you vote this government out, the next one will implement this.

ClumsyPilot 4y ago
> The left will be able to spy on the rich Has this ever really happened in the West? Rich have excellent privacy -theu anonimously own property thiugh shell companies, avoid taxes, have lawyers pursue SLAPP cases against media, pay people to stay silent in case of sexual or any other misconduict.v Just cobsider how long Eipstein got away with jt

danjac 4y ago

It's interesting to compare the backgrounds of MPs in the British Parliament today with a few decades ago. If you look at the MPs from the 1970s or 80s, many of them were still veterans (i.e. old enough to have served in WW2 or done national service). They came from a wide variety of professions: perhaps coal miners or truck drivers in the Labour Party (the younger ones maybe social workers or schoolteachers), or doctors, lawyers or businessmen in the Conservatives. Harold Wilson, British PM in the 60s and 70s, was a former academic and civil servant of outstanding ability in his heyday. Margaret Thatcher was a former chemist and food scientist. James Callaghan was a sailor. Ted Heath was a decorated veteran. At some point this intake became more and more narrow. The route to MP and then government or shadow minister is politics at university (probably PPE or Law), work as a Spad for a few years - or work in media and PR - then maybe run for Parliament in a no-hope seat to test your mettle, and finally land a safe seat somewhere. Your entire life is spent inside a bubble of politics and related media and learning how to climb that one greasy pole. You are not going to learn about tech, or medicine, or how railways work, or what makes international trade happen. Your focus is on the 24 hour news cycle, politics Twitter, WhatsApp gossip, and who is going to say what at PM Question Time. If the Telegraph or Guardian or whatever paper who backs your party says that we must add backdoor encryption to Protect the Children, then you support backdoor encryption, even though you have only a vague idea about it being something like helpfully leaving the key under the mat so the local bobby can check your house for stolen goods.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
aembleton 4y ago
Sadly true. Kemi Badenoch worked as a software developer before going into parliament and has opposed this online safety bill [1]. She didn't make it into the running to lead the Conservative party but was popular among the party members. 1. https://news.sky.com/story/tory-leadership-candidate-kemi-badenoch-says-online-safety-bill-is-in-no-fit-shape-to-become-law-12651674 https://news.sky.com/story/tory-leadership-candidate-kemi-ba...
- Mindwipe 4y ago

pibechorro 4y ago

Its always been like this. Its the nature of the job. Lying is successful as there is no accountability and wealth leveraging the power granted. The only way out is to limit its function to the minimal bare bones and be vigilant at that. Its become way too big, way too lucrative. Its a corruption vector.

ClumsyPilot 4y ago
it has not -politics has changes in the last 40 years. The quality of leadershio and even quality of lying has declined.
- readthenotes1 4y ago
  Not from what I recall. You may be perhaps more aware of it nowadays, but as far as I can tell politics and politicians have been the same as long as we have a written record of them.
  - pjc50 4y ago
    There is a measurable difference in that Ministers who had been found to be lying or "misleading the house" would previously resign; or otherwise if they had proven misconduct; or sometimes even if the appearance of misconduct had occurred. Now they do not. The last vestiges of an (admittedly outdated) honor culture have gone and been replaced by a much more shameless approach to lying.

guntherhermann 4y ago

My MP gave me the same response.

reaperducer 4y ago

Something needs to be done. The "something" is for normal people to get involved. Start going to public meetings. Start speaking when public comment is requested. Eventually... maybe... possibly... run for office and take the place of the people you think are making bad decisions. Yes, the chances are slim. Yes, the process is hard. But as long as people sit around and say things like "something needs to be done," nothing will be done. There is a framework for change in many countries. But these days too often it's only the fringe who have the time and energy to take advantage of it, while the rest of us make excuses. And, as we see, the fringe are most certainly taking advantage of it. The whackjobs in office didn't get there by playing video games, whining on social media, and making viral TikTok videos for the lulz.

pjc50 4y ago
There's a lot to be said for this; personally I outsource this by giving money to the Open Rights Group, and encourage people in this thread to do the same. You've got to organize. > The whackjobs in office didn't get there by playing video games, whining on social media, and making viral TikTok videos for the lulz. I dunno, we've already seen the first Twitter President, and there's a whole coterie of people who seem to have managed to post their way to prominence out of nothing, usually as a grift and towards suspicious ends. But that's a more than full time job. In any case, it's more or less useless appealing directly to the Tory politicians backing this stuff. You've got to work through (or against) the media they answer to.
- reaperducer 4y ago
  personally I outsource this by giving money to the Open Rights Group Or you could do both, and have double the impact. I dunno, we've already seen the first Twitter President Only if by "twitter president" you mean someone who engaged in traditional politics and supplemented with a little bit of online engagement. He didn't get to be president by sitting in a basement and posting on Twitter. He went outside and met people. He shook hands. He spoke to millions of people at thousands of events. He told people face-to-face what he believed in. As much as people like to pretend that social media is all powerful, it isn't even remotely close to being the only tool required to assume political office. it's more or less useless appealing directly to the Tory politicians backing this stuff. You've got to work through (or against) the media they answer to. This is exactly the sort of defeatist hopelessness excuse that keeps good people out of office. "I'd like things to be different, but I don't think I can make a difference, so I'm not even going to try. Pass the Doritos."

mouse_ 4y ago

I got a response (on very nice thick, embossed paper and green ink) telling me he agrees with me that protecting children online is important and that's why he supports the bill. He clearly didn't read, understand or care what I said. Next he'll say, "Our constituents want this!"

scottLobster 4y ago

If it's anything like the US, I imagine your name/opinion is at least recorded by their staff. Someone who contacts their representative is more likely to vote in the next election, so "likely voter thinks X about important issue Y" is useful data. I've written my congressperson multiple times and never gotten a personal reply, but I've heard from the staff of said congresspeople that it still counts indirectly as at least your opinion shows up in the stats they use.

ops 4y ago
Seems like this might be easy to manipulate.
ta1243 4y ago
And in this case it's gone down as "X supports this bill"

calvinmorrison 4y ago

The Four Horseman of the Privacy Apocalypse Every time the government wants to invade your privacy they always do the same old song and dance, an appeal to emotion or some sort of boogeyman. Drugs The whole 'reason' we get constant illegal searches on vehicles. Terrorism The whole 'reason' we get phones tapped and molested at the airport. Porn depicting minors Think of the children, we can't have encryption, you don't want to be a diddler do you? Domestic Firearms Listen Sir, we cannot let you own or manufacture guns without absurd rules, for your safety (actually the government's safety) If you ever hear these ridiculous reasons, run for cover, because the populace is about to get a whole lot more butt-fuckin' coming their way from the state. There's always exceptions to every rule. As Americans, Humans, whatever, we realize that for the majority to have freedoms, there will be an associated cost. The problem is the cost of the regulations almost always are worse in the long run than the benefits of them. Often each small 'step' seems reasonable, but when added up, it creates a society in which no-one is very free. Read ISAIF section 14: RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM IS UNAVOIDABLE IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY for more on the endless crawl of control.

Cpoll 4y ago

> I emailed my MP I think that's your problem. You're more likely to have success if you send a letter. Bonus points if it's registered mail. More bonus points if it's hand-written. (Any staffers who can comment, btw? My experience is purely anecdotal).

mistrial9 4y ago
in the USA a political assistant in Federal govt said "the more effort it took to make the letter, the stronger first-impression by staff, therefore, an ordinary email is the lowest impact form of input from the public at the office"

kaanski 4y ago

Same thing happened when I wrote to my MP. Thankfully after reading through the House of Lords draft of the bill (https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8206/documents/84092/default/ https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8206/documents...) it looks like E2E encryption is a major concern of the upper house. They mention that: 1. This will weaken the UKs ability to have private and secure communication services. 2. Will weaken the UKs tech industry. 3. The technology to provide the frankly bullshit notion of “privacy for the good guys” doesn’t exist and would be difficult to foster. 4. Education, “report don’t share” and tackling child abuse at its root (by not massively defunding the agencies responsible for tackling child abuse) are better solutions then setting up an apparatus of mass surveillance. Hopefully these points will be brought up in the committee stage of the bill, I’m sure they will. Edit: Sorry this isn’t from the House of Lords this was from the joint committee before the bill was introduced to the lords.

harel 4y ago

If your letter can be a cookie-cutter template for other such letters, and you are willing to publish it, that would lower the barrier of "doing something".

aembleton 4y ago
Just ask chat GPT to write one. Problem is, its too late as its passed parliament and is now with the Lords.