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UK politicians themselves use WhatsApp a lot. They will strike the law down a day after WhatsApp stops working in UK. 2 days after there will be massive publi

by 323 4y ago

UK politicians themselves use WhatsApp a lot. They will strike the law down a day after WhatsApp stops working in UK. 2 days after there will be massive public outrage since everybody uses WhatsApp in UK. It's an empty threat, just like the internet porn law.

TillE 4y ago
That last bit is exactly right. The UK has proposed all sorts of plainly moronic online restrictions, which never actually get implemented. They simply don't have the clout to push around enormous American companies. It's a tiny country. If the EU or US were proposing such a law, you should take it seriously, but this is just a joke.
- eertami 4y ago
  Because these proposals are never intended to be implemented. It is an anchor, which is intentionally ridiculous and outrageous, so that when the next slightly less severe proposal is made it doesn't sound as bad as the previous one. It's very transparent but also standard operating procedure for the current UK government.
  - mokash 4y ago
    indeed, see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window
- fidgewidge 4y ago
  It's a country with 20% of the population of the USA. That's not exactly a tiny country. > If the EU or US were proposing such a law, you should take it seriously Judging from a few quick searches, there are more Facebook employees in the UK than in Ireland which is their main base of EU operations. They also have a presence in Switzerland (also not EU). FB apparently have some employees in Germany to comply with local hate speech laws, do marketing and HR work, but it doesn't seem like anything they'd miss much if they had to exit especially as they're laying people off anyway. Now that said, I think Meta can win against the UK govt if they want to duke it out but the idea that the UK is a "tiny country" vs the EU is not reflective of Meta's actual exposure. The EU is not a particularly attractive place for tech firms to hire.
  - outside1234 4y ago
    97% of WhatsApp are outside the UK. They would drop the UK in a heartbeat. They also know this happening would topple the government in the UK. So it will never occur if they threaten it.
    - 323 4y ago
      But a lot of people outside UK talk with people inside UK. A ban would touch a lot more people than 3%.
      - sangnoir 4y ago
        That's the same argument made in the article: they'd rather drop the UK and keep E2EE than weaken E2EE to keep the UK market.
    - justsomehnguy 4y ago
      May I ask where did you got 97%?
    - hackernewds 4y ago
      > They also know this happening would topple the government in the UK. Let's not get carried away. There are other apps with equal parity. Most people in SE Asia use Line perfectly well. There's also Signal and Telegram
  - sangnoir 4y ago
    > Judging from a few quick searches, there are more Facebook employees in the UK than in Ireland which is their main base of EU operations. Regardless of employee count in the UK office, it's only 2% of the market. I have no doubt about the choice I'd make if were faced with the same choice: especially since companies already have plans to decrease headcount.
deleted 4y ago
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by 323 4y ago

TillE 4y ago

That last bit is exactly right. The UK has proposed all sorts of plainly moronic online restrictions, which never actually get implemented. They simply don't have the clout to push around enormous American companies. It's a tiny country. If the EU or US were proposing such a law, you should take it seriously, but this is just a joke.

eertami 4y ago
Because these proposals are never intended to be implemented. It is an anchor, which is intentionally ridiculous and outrageous, so that when the next slightly less severe proposal is made it doesn't sound as bad as the previous one. It's very transparent but also standard operating procedure for the current UK government.
- mokash 4y ago
  indeed, see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window
fidgewidge 4y ago
It's a country with 20% of the population of the USA. That's not exactly a tiny country. > If the EU or US were proposing such a law, you should take it seriously Judging from a few quick searches, there are more Facebook employees in the UK than in Ireland which is their main base of EU operations. They also have a presence in Switzerland (also not EU). FB apparently have some employees in Germany to comply with local hate speech laws, do marketing and HR work, but it doesn't seem like anything they'd miss much if they had to exit especially as they're laying people off anyway. Now that said, I think Meta can win against the UK govt if they want to duke it out but the idea that the UK is a "tiny country" vs the EU is not reflective of Meta's actual exposure. The EU is not a particularly attractive place for tech firms to hire.
- outside1234 4y ago
  97% of WhatsApp are outside the UK. They would drop the UK in a heartbeat. They also know this happening would topple the government in the UK. So it will never occur if they threaten it.
  - 323 4y ago
    But a lot of people outside UK talk with people inside UK. A ban would touch a lot more people than 3%.
    - sangnoir 4y ago
      That's the same argument made in the article: they'd rather drop the UK and keep E2EE than weaken E2EE to keep the UK market.
  - justsomehnguy 4y ago
    May I ask where did you got 97%?
  - hackernewds 4y ago
    > They also know this happening would topple the government in the UK. Let's not get carried away. There are other apps with equal parity. Most people in SE Asia use Line perfectly well. There's also Signal and Telegram
- sangnoir 4y ago
  > Judging from a few quick searches, there are more Facebook employees in the UK than in Ireland which is their main base of EU operations. Regardless of employee count in the UK office, it's only 2% of the market. I have no doubt about the choice I'd make if were faced with the same choice: especially since companies already have plans to decrease headcount.

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