UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

K-Hole · 14 de Jun, 2026

femboy fart huffer dijo:
Yea let me just download a vpn. Proton is good right? Ok let me just go to proton's vpn. Oh. It needs an account? Huh? Ok. Well how do I make an account? I have to make a proton account? No problems. Oh their dot onion site doesn't fucking work? Great. And even if you use the dot com one you have to use a 'proper' backup like your phone or another email to 'verify'. And this is meant to be a privacy focused service? That's cool. The entire fucking internet is impossible to simply just use. There is no entry point. To get in to anything you need to already be in something else. And that something else needs you to be in something else. And so on. You can't just make an account. You can't just go in as your first action. You can't jump in fresh. You have to start from somewhere else. And that somewhere else always leads back in some manner to your fucking real address and phone number.

That's why I said to work out an alternative strategy. Of course most of these are honey pots that just want to take your cash as well. Mullvad - send them cash in the post - give them your generated serial number. One example of a working alternative. But yeah... No one uses Proton. Then again, depends what you want to do with it all. I'd say you need a fairly robust VPN to post on the farms...

Mound Dweller dijo:
Same with me with the Guardian and sometimes Daily Mail online versions too, they're getting fucky wucky, I think it's a cookie thing because it just works if I cache clear and switch VPNs.
archive.is tends to get best results https://archive.is/qGVtr

N'wah just buy MullVad, it just works.

Yeah, they are getting wise to it. Was only a matter of time. There's a thing called 'SingleFile' that is an extension for FF and Chrome. It works great and just about perfectly scrapes the .html. Only a matter of time before that gets nixed too.

I'm a Silly dijo:
What a disgusting non-apology, absolute twaddle.

Yeah, that's how it goes today. Reverse double psychology to fuck with your head. Keeps you engaged, wastes your time, makes you doubt your sanity.

It's afraid.

I'm a Silly · 14 de Jun, 2026

K-Hole dijo:
No one uses Proton.

Vivaldi browser comes with Proton VPN, fwiw.

Snekposter · 14 de Jun, 2026

Otterly dijo:
I’m sure they’ll not listen, nor will they have so much as a flicker of guilt as they shoot me into a ditch, but one day they will stand before God and account for themselves.

I, on the other hand, have confidence that you'll be able to remonstrate them with such potency as to render them unable to do anything but walk away, sobbing in shamefulness at how they've comported themselves and where they've ended up in life as a result.

Mostly because I have to believe in that happening, because the alternative is too horrifying to think about.

Ivalice · 14 de Jun, 2026

Hello British megathread posters, I've been reading up on the 16- social media ban apparently being announced soon. I'd like to see how you guys feel about it. I do think it's funny Bluesky is exempt from it.

Carpe Jugulum · 14 de Jun, 2026

Ivalice dijo:
I do think it's funny Bluesky is exempt from it.

Can’t be keeping children away from the nonces and troons can we? While we know this nonsense was never about protecting children, this just proves what a farce it is.

AbendCode12 · 14 de Jun, 2026

I think they should be allowed on it but only at dialup speeds. And you can't talk on your phone while you're on it.

French Dip · 15 de Jun, 2026

Idk if this has been posted yet, but there's a rumor going around that the cops killed this guy when they slammed his head into a bollard. Between this and that kid they abused on camera, you really can't hate them enough. They're traitors.

F40PH · 15 de Jun, 2026

Ivalice dijo:
Hello British megathread posters, I've been reading up on the 16- social media ban apparently being announced soon. I'd like to see how you guys feel about it. I do think it's funny Bluesky is exempt from it.

As far as I can see online, nowhere does it say anything specifically about Bluesky. I know that it's exempt from the Australian socialmedia ban, allegedly because it's "not big enough" there and totally absolutely definitely doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Labor are in power over there at the moment. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if it were granted an exemption here for the same bullshit surface-level reason it was in Australia, though.

diroama · 15 de Jun, 2026

Ivalice dijo:
Hello British megathread posters, I've been reading up on the 16- social media ban apparently being announced soon. I'd like to see how you guys feel about it. I do think it's funny Bluesky is exempt from it.

I think it's fundamentally a good idea. Sure there are any number of ways that it might be circumvented but social media is a problem for kids. It's addictive by design, promotes vainglorious behaviour, distances kids from their families and is a forum for bullying. And it's not enough to simply not use it, because not using it says something about that child to his or her peers.

So banning it will remove that "critical mass" that means all kids feel they need to use it to fit in. Becomes a bit less mainstream and essential.

Having said that, I have no confidence that this is as far as the ban will go, or that it's technical implementation is to be trusted or will not impede activities of adult users.

And having said *that* I think social media is a cancer and the cause of many of the worst aspects of society today.

teriyakiburns · 15 de Jun, 2026

diroama dijo:
Having said that, I have no confidence that this is as far as the ban will go, or that it's technical implementation is to be trusted or will not impede activities of adult users.

Of course it will. The entire point is to backdoor online ID and track every site everyone visits. Short of parents actually parenting, the way to ban social media for children, given they primarily access it with phones, is to block it at the carrier level, like Japan does (and in fact like the UK partially does as well). The invasiveness is minimal and turning it off only requires a single interaction between the contract holder and the phone company. This is not tenable for the government however, because it obviates their scheme to require everyone to self-dox on every website.

The Green Man · 15 de Jun, 2026

They'll wheel out Brett's whore mother to cry about her troon son on TV. She was fully in support of this. Less time parenting, more time spreading her legs.

diroama · 15 de Jun, 2026

The Green Man dijo:
They'll wheel out Brett's whore mother to cry about her troon son on TV. She was fully in support of this. Less time parenting, more time spreading her legs.

She was a shit parent who let her son crossdress to entertain adult men, and showed no interest in what he was getting up to.

SchizoDaemon · 15 de Jun, 2026

diroama dijo:
I think it's fundamentally a good idea. Sure there are any number of ways that it might be circumvented but social media is a problem for kids. It's addictive by design, promotes vainglorious behaviour, distances kids from their families and is a forum for bullying. And it's not enough to simply not use it, because not using it says something about that child to his or her peers.
So banning it will remove that "critical mass" that means all kids feel they need to use it to fit in. Becomes a bit less mainstream and essential.

That is the excuse they give for it. I guarantee that half the kids will work out how to circumvent this once it is enforced pretty quickly.

Most of the online ID checks a child can circumvent by using a fake moustache, using a video game character creator or going to any number of websites.

If parents are worried about social media, they should remove the device from the kid. Phones are already banned in a number of schools IIRC (and should be).

The government will likely lose this battle like they did against the torrent sites; they will constantly have to play whack-a-mole or have companies play whack-a-mole with exploits to age verification.

diroama dijo:
Having said that, I have no confidence that this is as far as the ban will go, or that it's technical implementation is to be trusted or will not impede activities of adult users.

It is a way to backdoor ID into everything and make other methods as painful as possible so you give up.

I experienced some of it this morning. I can't use my bank's app. I suspect when I contact the bank, they will tell me that basically anything other than official iOS or Android is unavailable. Which will need to be tied to a Google account.
Sure I can use their web portal, but it requires a card reader and being in front of a proper PC. If I need to transact away from home, I am going to have to fuck around with a laptop, a card reader and tethering the laptop / using wifi.

AssignedEva · 15 de Jun, 2026

The Green Man dijo:
They'll wheel out Brett's whore mother to cry about her troon son on TV. She was fully in support of this. Less time parenting, more time spreading her legs.

That's a weird one because it's unclear how social media contributed to the murder, if at all. It was just a couple of teenage sickos who wanted to kill, and they couldn't get their initial target. She wrote back in January -

Brianna had a social media addiction and struggled with her mental health from the age of 14. She developed an eating disorder and was self-harming, and all of this was significantly exacerbated by the harmful content she was consuming online. I was constantly having heated conversations with Brianna, who became determined that she wanted to be both TikTok famous and a sex worker. Alongside this, I was in constant fear about who Brianna might be speaking to online. I tried to monitor her phone through spot checks, but she was able to hide things from me very easily.

This has nothing to do with the murder. From the inquest in 2024 -

Ms Ghey said her daughter began struggling with her mental health from the age of 14, but refused to engage with the Child Adolescent Mental Health Service. Brianna then developed an eating disorder that resulted in her being hospitalised, the inquest heard. At one stage Brianna would go for weeks without washing or brushing her teeth, became totally isolated, and was referred for treatment for ADHD and diagnosed with autism, her mother said. "I feel she was let down by the lack of mental health treatment," Ms Ghey added. While at an eating disorder clinic, staff noticed Brianna had been self-harming and Ms Ghey's statement said the teenager had suffered a number of injuries to her arms and legs. The hearing was also told that when Brianna wanted to transition, she had threatened to kill herself if she did not receive hormone medication. Ms Ghey said she tried to hold off for as long as possible due to concerns about the long-term effects of such medication, but eventually felt she had to agree. “I don’t know if she would have [taken her own life] but I couldn’t take the risk," she said. Brianna started taking puberty blockers and oestrogen that Ms Ghey ordered from an online service. Her mother said Brianna’s mental health deteriorated in lockdown and she began to live her life mainly online. She looked at Twitter accounts that promoted eating disorders and self-harm. After lockdown, Brianna did not attend lessons in school because of anxiety. “She went down a hole of negativity," Ms Ghey said.

You'd think that someone like this would be kicking off about insufficient adolescent mental health support or maybe even something about Wes Streeting banning puberty blockers. But she's laser focused on social media restrictions and phone bans (although to be fair she also promotes teaching mindfulness in schools).

Broadside · 15 de Jun, 2026

There is no way the government really benefits from banning social media for under 16s. Since when do they care about the health and wellbeing of young people? This is a stepping stone for banning social media for more and more people, ramping up to no social media for under 18s within a year or two. As well as implementing ID across the board.
Whenever the government rolls out "it's for the kids" it's a smokescreen for a strategy down the road they're too cowardly to announce at once.

Dr J · 15 de Jun, 2026

diroama dijo:
I think it's fundamentally a good idea. Sure there are any number of ways that it might be circumvented but social media is a problem for kids. It's addictive by design, promotes vainglorious behaviour, distances kids from their families and is a forum for bullying. And it's not enough to simply not use it, because not using it says something about that child to his or her peers.

So banning it will remove that "critical mass" that means all kids feel they need to use it to fit in. Becomes a bit less mainstream and essential.

Having said that, I have no confidence that this is as far as the ban will go, or that it's technical implementation is to be trusted or will not impede activities of adult users.

And having said *that* I think social media is a cancer and the cause of many of the worst aspects of society today.

Yes, social media is cancer. But it's a known quantity. If you ban it, do you think the kids are just going to give up and go outside? No, they'll find somewhere else to go online that doesn't require age verification checks. You'll end up pushing them more and more to the fringes of the internet. In other words, you're just going to end up with a massive influx of under 18 British Kiwis

Broadside dijo:
Since when do they care about the health and wellbeing of young people?

They don't. This is about ending your anonymity.

SchizoDaemon · 15 de Jun, 2026

teriyakiburns dijo:
I reckon it'll be total economic collapse due to net zero-induced energy costs and shortage. It's known in the corridors of power that the current paradigm is already dead, despite still shuffling along.

They seem to be wedded to completely fucked policy that makes absolute no sense if you think about it for a few minutes.

teriyakiburns dijo:
They're trying to find ways to walk it back without having the green mob come for their heads; just yesterday, Starmer finally grew a pair and overrode Milliband's demand for 90% of car sales to be electric by 2030. He knocked it down to 50%, which is still retarded, but it's the first serious push-back against the net zero madness I've seen in this country. And no surprise, Mad Ed is now in talks to retain his cabinet post in the event that Andy Burnham gets in and overthrows Starmer; Burnham is reportedly seriously considering it, because he's a fucking retard.

They are going to have to walk it all back because electric cars are shit. It's like 3 1/2 years from the EV mandate, and the only people I see driving EVs are people that have £1 million+ homes and also drive a Ford 150 or a Mustang around.

I bought an old diesel that I can run on chip fat.

SirCliveSinclairdabbing · 15 de Jun, 2026

SchizoDaemon dijo:
They seem to be wedded to completely fucked policy that makes absolute no sense if you think about it for a few minutes.

They are going to have to walk it all back because electric cars are shit. It's like 3 1/2 years from the EV mandate, and the only people I see driving EVs are people that have £1 million+ homes and also drive a Ford 150 or a Mustang around.

Motability.
They drive it, we pay for it.

AssignedEva · 15 de Jun, 2026

Broadside dijo:
This is a stepping stone for banning social media for more and more people, ramping up to no social media for under 18s within a year or two.

That's sure to play well now the minimum voting age is 16.
I think one of the drivers of this behind the scenes is that police are too underresourced to deal with "takeovers"/"linkups". Kids are posting a location on TikTok and then swarming en masse. "Let's just ban social media to stop them doing this" likely feels easier to the Government than actually tackling the issue, although 15 years ago the same thing was happening with Blackberry Messenger.
Another driver with it happening right now is probably Starmer hoping "saving the children via a special ban" will either bolster him through a leadership challenge, cement his legacy, or leave a massive mess for Andy Burnham to deal with.

SchizoDaemon dijo:
The government will likely lose this battle like they did against the torrent sites; they will constantly have to play whack-a-mole or have companies play whack-a-mole with exploits to age verification.

That isn't putting Starmer off

“We don’t say, ‘Oh, look, a teenager managed to get a drink somehow, so let’s not bother banning alcohol sales for children.’ We don’t do that, do we? “I just don’t accept that. Our laws are rules, but they’re also an expression of our values. They shape the social contract, and so this will change the conversations that parents have, and the expectations of children over time. “It will make a huge difference. It will make our children safer. It will make our children happier. It will give them more time, more security, full freedom to grow up, more opportunity, and that, at the end of the day, is what this government is about.”

The Grauniad has an explainer on it. All "user to user platforms" will be impacted, i.e. anywhere where two people communicate. There'll be a specific whitelist of exemptions (e.g. WhatsApp, Signal). Livestreaming and communication with strangers will be blocked for under-16s on a “wider range of online services” , so things like video game chat functions.
I do think it's probably intended to be death by 1000 cuts - get people so exasperated with having to age verify on all these different services, so then the Government can go "hey alternatively you can just age verify your device once, and all these websites will automatically open up to you. We'll just happen to have linked your device to your identity and can track everything you do more easily".

SchizoDaemon · 15 de Jun, 2026

femboy fart huffer dijo:
Yea let me just download a vpn. Proton is good right? Ok let me just go to proton's vpn. Oh. It needs an account? Huh? Ok. Well how do I make an account? I have to make a proton account? No problems. Oh their dot onion site doesn't fucking work? Great. And even if you use the dot com one you have to use a 'proper' backup like your phone or another email to 'verify'. And this is meant to be a privacy focused service? That's cool. The entire fucking internet is impossible to simply just use. There is no entry point. To get in to anything you need to already be in something else. And that something else needs you to be in something else. And so on. You can't just make an account. You can't just go in as your first action. You can't jump in fresh. You have to start from somewhere else. And that somewhere else always leads back in some manner to your fucking real address and phone number.

Monero and Mullvad. Done!

The account they give you is a number. You save that number somewhere, and you are done.

AssignedEva dijo:
That isn't putting Starmer off

I wouldn't expect it to. But I can still torrent everything that I want to. There is like 1 extra step.

AssignedEva dijo:
The Grauniad has an explainer on it. All "user to user platforms" will be impacted, i.e. anywhere where two people communicate. There'll be a specific whitelist of exemptions (e.g. WhatsApp, Signal). Livestreaming and communication with strangers will be blocked for under-16s on a “wider range of online services” , so things like video game chat functions.

Not sure how they are going to enforce that. Might increase my latency playing Hell Divers 2 with a VPN. Not sure how I will get around that one.

AssignedEva dijo:
I do think it's probably intended to be death by 1000 cuts - get people so exasperated with having to age verify on all these different services, so then the Government can go "hey alternatively you can just age verify your device once, and all these websites will automatically open up to you. We'll just happen to have linked your device to your identity and can track everything you do more easily".

I saw a method of basically routing certain traffic through a VPN seamlessly, while other traffic won't be on the VPN. Going to see if I can Dockerise it and make it have a GUI app or something that can be run on a desktop computer easily.

BTW if you start making any tech in the UK that's supposed to preserve privacy, you will be put on a secret list they have. Something like a hostile actors list or some such BS.

Normally when I start doing any of this stuff, I get a phone call from a GHCQ recruiter.

UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

K-Hole

I'm a Silly

𝕷𝖎𝖉𝖑 𝕯𝖗𝖎𝖕 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖓 𝖆𝖈𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙

Snekposter

Operation: Desert Snek

Ivalice

Carpe Jugulum

Bread Stealing Squirrel 🐿️

AbendCode12

French Dip

Love your people

Archivos adjuntos

F40PH

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XU1_L5ww3og

diroama

teriyakiburns

The weak have no place in shuffleboard, captain!

The Green Man

diroama

SchizoDaemon

AssignedEva

I throw the quesadilla at the wall.

Broadside

Rotten Meat

Dr J

SchizoDaemon

SirCliveSinclairdabbing

I'm on the ZX Spectrum.

AssignedEva

I throw the quesadilla at the wall.

SchizoDaemon