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It is only a matter of time before they attempt to regulate VPN usage. Here is an article written by a British MP hinting at that: https://www.yorkshirepost.co

• scott_w 1y ago
  It definitely seems like she’s conflating two issues: access to pornography and child grooming. I don’t see why she thinks regulating VPNs would reduce the latter.
  • pydry 1y ago
    She doesnt, she just wants to put in Putin-like levels of control and surveillance for the same reasons Putin does.
    • userbinator 1y ago
      Jinping is probably a better comparison.
      • derelicta 1y ago
        Xi is fairly popular in China tho, unlike this "labour" govt.
        • dkdbejwi383 1y ago
          Do they regularly poll British political parties for popularity in China?
          • derelicta 1y ago
            It was obvious to everyone that i was talking about the popularity of these govts in their respective countries.
            • dkdbejwi383 1y ago
              What’s your source for the labour government’s unpopularity? Not that I necessarily think you’re wrong, it’s just more indifference towards them that I see, more of the same etc.
              • jbstack 1y ago
                Here's a couple of recent Yougov polls: https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/52187-political-favourability-ratings-may-2025 https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/52187-political-favou... "Keir Starmer falls to lowest net favourability rating on record" "Labour’s popularity hit isn’t merely limited to Keir Starmer, with worst-ever net favourability scores also recorded this month by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner (-31) and home secretary Yvette Cooper (-25), while Rachel Reeves has equalled her -48 net favourability rating recorded in mid-April." "65% of Britons dislike the Labour Party, the most in the eight years YouGov has been asking the question"
        • gitremote 1y ago
          How would you know? In countries without free speech where anti-government speech is illegal, the only legal speech is pro-government or neutral.
          • derelicta 1y ago
            I would know cuz there are independent polls made by western NGOs: https://allianceofdemocracies.org/democracy-perception-index https://allianceofdemocracies.org/democracy-perception-index
            • scott_w 1y ago
              Immaterial how independent they are because it's completely impossible to get honest opinions of repressive regimes. The people within the regime have no real way to know whether a poll response will make it back to the government or not, so they must assume that it will. When the repercussions for having the wrong opinion are that you disappear or find yourself "volunteered" for the front line, it's best to either lie or say you think the leader is a top bloke. You can watch Youtube videos of citizens refusing to answer contentious questions quite easily. I believe William Spaniel has produced videos (relating to the Russian General Election) where he points this out, too.
              • derelicta 1y ago
                How can you tell it is a repressive regime? They have elections, a press and they are pretty satisfied about their form of governance, actually much more than their western counterparts. So let me sum this up. We cannot ask the people. We cannot base ourselves on how their institutions function and how well they perform. This discussion highlights how westerners suffer from some serious superiority complex where only THEY can experience genuine freedom and democracy(probably due to their superior phenotype or some inane bs), and everything outside of their little group of friends is a masquerade. The issue with that is that westerners disconnect themselves from reality. They are losing ground and it shows.
                • 1y ago
        • Saline9515 1y ago
          Which is the aim of restricting every information channel and starting the brainwashing in primary school? I'm sure Kim Jong Un is very popular in North Korea, too!
          • derelicta 1y ago
            This is an insane take. You'd know this if you had ever talked with a Chinese person before instead of believing the silly propaganda they spread in your "free" press.
            • mitthrowaway2 1y ago
              It's a fair take and I expect that Kim Jong Un truly is very popular in North Korea.
            • Saline9515 1y ago
              I indeed discussed with many young chinese persons while at university and found everyone mostly unaware of the real history of the CCP in the XXth century. The only ones with a realistic view of what's happening are the sons of the CCP hierarchs, who are emigrating to Canada or Australia.
      • pydry 1y ago
        Jinping would be a better comparison if you wanted to downplay all of this - he's less of a persona non grata. All 3 like to crack down on free speech and monitor internet traffic for identical reasons though.
  • johnisgood 1y ago
    It does not. As I have said before, pedophilia is rampant on Roblox and Discord. Go monitor those platforms, and hold these platforms responsible, not VPNs. Regulating VPNs will not reduce child grooming, and I am sure they are not stupid enough to actually think it does.
    • Bjartr 1y ago
      Or, to put it another way, in order to protect the most children, focus your efforts on where the most children actually are, not where you're afraid they might end up.
      • johnisgood 1y ago
        Pretty much.
  • pjc50 1y ago
    Everyone always does this. Then they conflate mention of LGBT topics with porn so they can equate it with "grooming". Not helped by the UK's anti-trans panic of the last few years (self-ID was such a mainstream idea that it was in the 2018 Tory manifesto)
  • UncleMeat 1y ago
    In the Project 2025 documents, the core things that they discuss regarding porn bans are "gender ideology" and "sexualizing children." Banning access to information with lgbt themes is not some incidental part of this but is a core goal of the effort, at least in the US.
• orthoxerox 1y ago
  > Sarah Champion is Labour MP for Rotherham. Seriously? You can't make this up: she represents the town that did nothing about a massive (and completely offline) child grooming and molestation network for years and she has the gall to say, "think of the children on the Internet"?
  • ifwinterco 1y ago
    Not sure why you're getting downvoted, this is a classic YooKay 2025 moment
    • tom_ 1y ago
      I assume it's because she is quite well known for not taking the grooming gangs' side.
      • ifwinterco 1y ago
        Fair enough, I shouldn't have commented without knowing the full context
• commandlinefan 1y ago
  I always keep hoping one of these authoritarian measures will kick off a resurgence of a truly uncensorable platform like Freenet or I2P - the big reason they're currently so unusable is mostly lack of participation.
  • OhioMan2943 1y ago
    same. as much as i ironically support social media age gating i do hope it creates a new internet frontier for the educated and technologically inclined