4 ms·

I am convinced that a good bit of this is paid astroturfing and another segment is people who work in government or government contracting. Brits generally seem

I am convinced that a good bit of this is paid astroturfing and another segment is people who work in government or government contracting. Brits generally seem more open to government intrusion, it’s true, but in my experience they don’t go out of their way to defend things like this. It’s more of a passive acceptance.

JCattheATM 10mo ago
I think tribalism is the simpler explanation. One of the worst offenders I saw was a guy on here who wrote one of the new generation shells written in go...went out of his way to say the US had the same behavior as the UK, arresting people holding a blank sign, except his evidence was the disproportionate shooting of black people by police. An entirely unrelated issue. The point was though he was flailing due to feeling defensive, and unable to take a step back and analyze the criticisms objectively. This is super common behavior in pretty much all countries, and I think it's a huge problem.
- iamnothere 10mo ago
  True, now that you mention it I’ve seen the same sort of thing from people who are definitely not bots. Although, you can’t discount the possibility that they do some government or law enforcement work as a consultant. The full throated defense of police state tactics is unreal. (For what it’s worth, there are plenty of Americans who show up in Palantir/Flock threads doing the same thing, and I have the same suspicions there.)
  - JCattheATM 10mo ago
    For a current example look at the other guy replying to my comments, earnestly trying to equate 'free speech zones' in the US which have not been a thing in years, maybe more than a decade, with people in the UK being arrested for holding up blank signs. I can't imagine it's paid work because what would be the point? It's not like he is influencing anyone's opinions.
    - iamnothere 10mo ago
      Edit: I agree with you about many of these posts, and it’s quite frustrating. Perhaps I should go for a walk.
    - deleted 10mo ago
      [deleted]
    - tdeck 10mo ago
      > free speech zones' in the US which have not been a thing in years, maybe more than a decade This is from 2024 https://www.thefire.org/news/how-milwaukee-and-chicago-circumvented-free-speech-rnc-and-dnc https://www.thefire.org/news/how-milwaukee-and-chicago-circu...
      - JCattheATM 10mo ago
        OK. SO, one city decided to do that, around a convention where there was very likely reasonable security concerns. Not sure I agree with it, but it's hardly a national issue. Look at all the no kings and anti-ice protests nation wide not confined in any way as evidence.
    - joe463369 10mo ago
      Nobody has been arrested in the UK for holding a blank sign. Please stop saying it.
      - JCattheATM 10mo ago
        Fair enough. People were just arrested for holding up signs like 'abolish monarchy' or 'not my king', and the person holding up a blank sign was intimidated by police. Slightly better, I guess.
        joe463369 10mo ago
        https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/abolish-the-monarchy-protesters-king-proclamation-b2165294.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/abolish-the-mona... > Police Scotland said the 22-year-old woman arrested outside St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on Sunday had been arrested for “breach of the peace”. > The woman was holding a sign reading “f** imperialism, abolish monarchy”, but the sign is not understood to be the reason for her arrest
- graemep 10mo ago
  > his evidence was the disproportionate shooting of black people by police In the UK? The police shoot very few people of any colour! Two in 2025: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_police_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_police_in_... Is there even a bit enough sample to draw such conclusions (let alone that correlation does not imply causation)
  - JCattheATM 10mo ago
    No, in the US. That's why it was silly. I was talking about protestors being arrested for holding up signs, he said the same thing happened in the US but his evidence was the disproportionate shooting of black people by police in the US, which while very bad is an entirely different issue.

JCattheATM 10mo ago

I think tribalism is the simpler explanation. One of the worst offenders I saw was a guy on here who wrote one of the new generation shells written in go...went out of his way to say the US had the same behavior as the UK, arresting people holding a blank sign, except his evidence was the disproportionate shooting of black people by police. An entirely unrelated issue. The point was though he was flailing due to feeling defensive, and unable to take a step back and analyze the criticisms objectively. This is super common behavior in pretty much all countries, and I think it's a huge problem.

iamnothere 10mo ago
True, now that you mention it I’ve seen the same sort of thing from people who are definitely not bots. Although, you can’t discount the possibility that they do some government or law enforcement work as a consultant. The full throated defense of police state tactics is unreal. (For what it’s worth, there are plenty of Americans who show up in Palantir/Flock threads doing the same thing, and I have the same suspicions there.)
- JCattheATM 10mo ago
  For a current example look at the other guy replying to my comments, earnestly trying to equate 'free speech zones' in the US which have not been a thing in years, maybe more than a decade, with people in the UK being arrested for holding up blank signs. I can't imagine it's paid work because what would be the point? It's not like he is influencing anyone's opinions.
  - iamnothere 10mo ago
    Edit: I agree with you about many of these posts, and it’s quite frustrating. Perhaps I should go for a walk.
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]
  - tdeck 10mo ago
    > free speech zones' in the US which have not been a thing in years, maybe more than a decade This is from 2024 https://www.thefire.org/news/how-milwaukee-and-chicago-circumvented-free-speech-rnc-and-dnc https://www.thefire.org/news/how-milwaukee-and-chicago-circu...
    - JCattheATM 10mo ago
      OK. SO, one city decided to do that, around a convention where there was very likely reasonable security concerns. Not sure I agree with it, but it's hardly a national issue. Look at all the no kings and anti-ice protests nation wide not confined in any way as evidence.
  - joe463369 10mo ago
    Nobody has been arrested in the UK for holding a blank sign. Please stop saying it.
    - JCattheATM 10mo ago
      Fair enough. People were just arrested for holding up signs like 'abolish monarchy' or 'not my king', and the person holding up a blank sign was intimidated by police. Slightly better, I guess.
      - joe463369 10mo ago
        https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/abolish-the-monarchy-protesters-king-proclamation-b2165294.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/abolish-the-mona... > Police Scotland said the 22-year-old woman arrested outside St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on Sunday had been arrested for “breach of the peace”. > The woman was holding a sign reading “f** imperialism, abolish monarchy”, but the sign is not understood to be the reason for her arrest
graemep 10mo ago
> his evidence was the disproportionate shooting of black people by police In the UK? The police shoot very few people of any colour! Two in 2025: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_police_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_police_in_... Is there even a bit enough sample to draw such conclusions (let alone that correlation does not imply causation)
- JCattheATM 10mo ago
  No, in the US. That's why it was silly. I was talking about protestors being arrested for holding up signs, he said the same thing happened in the US but his evidence was the disproportionate shooting of black people by police in the US, which while very bad is an entirely different issue.