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Watching UK policy from a distance has been like watching a dumpster fire. You can get arrested for writing a Tweet, you need to show an ID to watch porn on th

Watching UK policy from a distance has been like watching a dumpster fire. You can get arrested for writing a Tweet, you need to show an ID to watch porn on the Internet, a kitchen knife is considered a deadly weapon. They shot their economy in the foot with Brexit. It's like they took the fucking worst policy ideas from both sides of the political aisle in the USA, and thought, hey, let's combine them, this will turn out great.

chatmasta 3y ago
Keep in mind most of what you read is UK policy proposals. They're always proposing a bunch of whacky stuff. Hardly any of it gets implemented.
- orwin 3y ago
  Does that makes bureaucracies weirdly whacky-resiliant in exchange for more bullshit and red tape on the edges? I'm genuinely asking, your comment triggered the thought.
- PrimeMcFly 3y ago
  Getting arrested for writing a Tweet is certainly implemented.
  - foldr 3y ago
    This framing doesn't make sense. The issue isn't the medium but what was said. You can be arrested for a tweet in the US too if you say something that's not protected by the First Amendment (e.g. a death threat). The UK, like almost all other countries in the world, has less stringent free speech protections than the US. For this reason you can be arrested for saying some things (whether on Twitter or not) that would be protected under the First Amendment in the US. The same is true of a vast number of other countries (including many other European countries, e.g. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/09/pimmelgate-german-politician-police-raid/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/09/pimmelgate-g...), but HN likes to get particularly excited about a few examples of this happening in the UK.
    - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
      It's certainly the medium playing a role. People in the UK get arrested for expressing an opinion on Twitter that they wouldn't if they were talking to a friend. You can't compare the actions of UK police arresting people for harmless tweets to things like threats of violence in the US.
      - foldr 3y ago
        > People in the UK get arrested for expressing an opinion on Twitter that they wouldn't if they were talking to a friend. That's obviously because a tweet is more public. Again, there are lots of countries where you can get arrested for publicly saying something that's 'harmless' as far as the First Ammendment is concerned. There's nothing particularly notable about the UK in this respect. A simple Google search will turn up examples of people being arrested and detained in the US for similarly silly reasons, e.g.: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_tourist.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri...
        PrimeMcFly 3y ago
        > That's obviously because a tweet is more public. That doesn't justify it at all. > Again, there are lots of countries where you can get arrested for publicly saying something that's 'harmless' as far as the First Ammendment is concerned. There's nothing particularly notable about the UK in this respect. You're in denial. People in the UK get arrested for mundane things and there is no equivalent on the US. > A simple Google search will turn up examples of people being arrested and detained in the US for similarly silly reasons, e.g.: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri... I agree the example in the article was silly, but the people were not US citizens but were looking to enter the country, and had joked about destroying the USA. It was bad judgement to arrest them, but not the same as being arrested for wondering if transwomen competing in female sports is fair.
        foldr 3y ago
ClumsyPilot 3y ago
> It's like they took the fucking worst policy ideas from both sides of the political aisle in the USA, and thought, hey, let's combine them UK is really good at combining incombinable - also combined worst aspects of USA and EU when it comes to policy. We don't the don't have the high levels of protections, redundancy pay, etc. that Europe enjoys, and we don't have USA's high salaries.
foldr 3y ago
>you need to show an ID to watch porn on the Internet This is not true, FWIW.

chatmasta 3y ago

Keep in mind most of what you read is UK policy proposals. They're always proposing a bunch of whacky stuff. Hardly any of it gets implemented.

orwin 3y ago
Does that makes bureaucracies weirdly whacky-resiliant in exchange for more bullshit and red tape on the edges? I'm genuinely asking, your comment triggered the thought.
PrimeMcFly 3y ago
Getting arrested for writing a Tweet is certainly implemented.
- foldr 3y ago
  This framing doesn't make sense. The issue isn't the medium but what was said. You can be arrested for a tweet in the US too if you say something that's not protected by the First Amendment (e.g. a death threat). The UK, like almost all other countries in the world, has less stringent free speech protections than the US. For this reason you can be arrested for saying some things (whether on Twitter or not) that would be protected under the First Amendment in the US. The same is true of a vast number of other countries (including many other European countries, e.g. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/09/pimmelgate-german-politician-police-raid/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/09/pimmelgate-g...), but HN likes to get particularly excited about a few examples of this happening in the UK.
  - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
    It's certainly the medium playing a role. People in the UK get arrested for expressing an opinion on Twitter that they wouldn't if they were talking to a friend. You can't compare the actions of UK police arresting people for harmless tweets to things like threats of violence in the US.
    - foldr 3y ago
      > People in the UK get arrested for expressing an opinion on Twitter that they wouldn't if they were talking to a friend. That's obviously because a tweet is more public. Again, there are lots of countries where you can get arrested for publicly saying something that's 'harmless' as far as the First Ammendment is concerned. There's nothing particularly notable about the UK in this respect. A simple Google search will turn up examples of people being arrested and detained in the US for similarly silly reasons, e.g.: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_tourist.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri...
      - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
        > That's obviously because a tweet is more public. That doesn't justify it at all. > Again, there are lots of countries where you can get arrested for publicly saying something that's 'harmless' as far as the First Ammendment is concerned. There's nothing particularly notable about the UK in this respect. You're in denial. People in the UK get arrested for mundane things and there is no equivalent on the US. > A simple Google search will turn up examples of people being arrested and detained in the US for similarly silly reasons, e.g.: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/01/british_touri... I agree the example in the article was silly, but the people were not US citizens but were looking to enter the country, and had joked about destroying the USA. It was bad judgement to arrest them, but not the same as being arrested for wondering if transwomen competing in female sports is fair.
        foldr 3y ago

ClumsyPilot 3y ago

> It's like they took the fucking worst policy ideas from both sides of the political aisle in the USA, and thought, hey, let's combine them UK is really good at combining incombinable - also combined worst aspects of USA and EU when it comes to policy. We don't the don't have the high levels of protections, redundancy pay, etc. that Europe enjoys, and we don't have USA's high salaries.

foldr 3y ago

>you need to show an ID to watch porn on the Internet This is not true, FWIW.