News Archive
The UK and the Internet
07/30/25
Color me surprised that the UK has internet access. I'm just as suprised that they have electricity, but damn, they not only have internet, but the queen, or king, or whatever they have, has outright censored it.
Part of me is glad that they're basically barred from using the internet, as the only valuable contribution that festering island has ever made to this planet is Ozzy Osbourne, and that was eight decades ago.
Of course, I'm joking about most of that. The UK has indeed censored it's internet using the laziest excuse imaginable; "think of the children!". Anything to excuse poor parenting, right? Apparently, major platforms are now requiring British users post pictures of their IDs to gain access to them. I just know that move wont backfire spectacularly.
this site doesn't fit the bill to be included within the Online Safety Act (2023) because I don't allow user submissions or whatever. The act claims to "protect children and adults" from a variety of things that sound good on paper, but are obviously scapegoats. You're not stupid, so I don't have to explain my reasoning.
From an American perspective, the UK seems to be in even worse shape than we are. Our government is tremendously incompetent right now, and it'll be their downfall in the long term. Brits on the other hand have to deal with more and more of their liberties being stripped from them seemingly on a yearly basis at this point. Our liberties are being stripped too, but the majority of people are actively fighting it. Hard, and as we speak. Those that aren't are seen as complicit.
What are you Brits doing? I can't imagine big tech will help you. They'd love to have more data to harvest and sell to advertisers. You lot should stop using the platforms that are affected by this nonsense and start using the actual internet again.
I'm a parent, my children aren't allowed to use the internet. Why? Because I used the internet as a child. It wasn't a place for them then, and it isn't a place for them now. Period. You are a bad parent if you let your child online. It's not the governments place to protect my children from anything I personally have the power to do something about. Likewise, no government has any right to protect you from reading or watching anything.
It appears from this vantage point that this bill, having passed at all, is a function of voter incompetence. That's assuming of course, that the British public had any right to do so to begin with. I, an American, know all too well the danger of voter incompetence. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I won't pretend I know how the UK government works. I'm sitting here as an American watching you people accept tyranny and I'm disgusted. Where did your fight go?
Children are the future, they're wonderful people, and deserve respect. A government that will use them as a scapegoat to pass draconian laws doesn't have their best interest in mind at all. It doesn't respect them, and it doesn't respect the parents.
To all you parents letting your children on Social Media, why? Do you understand what you're doing? Social Media upsets people, and it's by design. They don't make any money showing people good things. If they're happy and satisfied, they'll leave. We need to start looking at situations like this the same way we look at parents that let their children smoke and drink. It's a complete and utter failure of parenting and it will absolutely damage them for life. If you can't handle parenting a child, please don't create one.
Finally, this isn't going to stop in the UK. While I'd absolutely love to see big tech go up in proverbial flames, we the people need to make that happen. Laws like this hurt people much more than they could ever help. Nobody cares about your children more than you, their parent will. I must reiterate, it is up to you to guide them. Not a government, not a corporation, you. In theory, a government is great for handling things that you can't. The NHS is great, and I wish we had something like that here. Everything involving your personal existence though? That's on you.