UK Patel plans to remove anonymity online to stop comments directed at MPs

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/priti-patel-online-anonymity-mps-295708/ ( https://archive.md/ZjO8M )

Priti Patel suggested she is planning to remove the right to anonymity online, to stop “cruel and relentless” comments direct at MPs.

The Home Secretary warned she wanted to make some “big changes” in law, saying things cannot continue as they are.

She told Sky News: “This is about wider public discourse and I would go as far to say social media and anonymity on social media, where Members of Parliament are the subject of some of the most cruel comments and attacks, and they are relentless.

“I’ve seen my colleagues go through some of the most appalling attacks online, and I have as well.”

Legislation on removing anonymity

Patel said she wanted to look at “everything” and that work is already taking place to introduce legislation on removing the right to online anonymity.

She added: “We’ve got an Online Harms Bill that will come to parliament. There’s work taking place on it right now.

“I’ve done a lot of work on the social media platforms, mainly around encryption and areas of that nature.

“But we can’t carry on like this. I spend too much time with communities who have been under attack, who’ve had all sorts of postings put online and it’s a struggle to get those postings taken down. We want to make some big changes on that.”

Rio Ferdinand warned about online racist abuse

Last month, former England footballer and TV pundit Rio Ferdinand said being anonymous online “gives you a certain amount of power”, when giving evidence at Parliament about online racist abouse.

Ferdinand warned the abuse will continue to happen in real life if it is allowed to go on unheeded.

Giving evidence at Parliament about online racist abuse in the aftermath of Euro 2020, Ferdinand said that when Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed the penalties, his first thought was to check what was happening on social media.

He said: “I expected what happened to happen. And that is the disappointing thing.”

“A black player is representing the country and doing great things. And they make no mistake, but they miss a penalty. And they have to sit there and go through abuse in the coming days via social media, it’s totally disheartening.”

Ferdinand said it is not just the players who “shouldn’t have to go through this”. He said racism affects their families and friends too, and added: “I’ve seen members of my family kind of disintegrate at times when situations like this happen.”

He called for punishments to be set out, coupled with education, whilst saying that being anonymous online is “an absolute problem for everybody in the society”.

He said: “The fact that you can be anonymous online, gives you a certain amount of power, enables you to puff your chest out and be able to really say what you really feel especially compounded with the fact that there’s no repercussions at the moment.”

 

[Beautiful Border]

They have already laid the foundation with their proposed porn age verification system, an equally ill-thought idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_UK_Internet_age_verification_system

If you as a ruling politician suffer a setback with one censorship idea, you simply submit another slightly different one until one slips through the checks and balances, then you keep going and push for another and another and another.

This would pose zero barrier to anyone who is semi-literate with computers. Unless the government mandated that all new computers sold in the UK came with preinstalled filtering software like China tried a few years ago then there's nothing stopping people from circumventing it via a VPN.

 

[Johan Schmidt]

This country is just cucked beyond belief. It's somehow ingrained into British culture that we must be as authoritarian as possible on almost every issue. It's not even a left vs right thing. There's no meaningful libertarian movement in the UK in either major party.

Libertarianism is gay as fuck. But it's better than the shit we have now.

 

[The handsome tard]

Playing some dangerous game there...but then again, they are never punished after failing so they might as well keep doing it over and over until they win through sheer persistance.

The more involved big tech becomes in our lives, the worse it will get.

This is like attempt what, 30 now?

They have to win at some point, right?

What's so wrong about this? Britain is just returning to the good ol' days when criticizing the nobility got you a free ticket to prison/the poorhouse. There's no Constitution in Britain, you don't have any freedoms.

Really shows the power of future proofing your country when you create things like constitutions and bill of rights for it. The Founding Fathers truly were ahead of their time.

 

[AirdropShitposts]

Deputy PM agrees: https://www.politicshome.com/news/a...line-anonymity-to-tackle-out-of-control-abuse

Justice secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday that he supported the move provided remove most anonymity from social media users, provided there was "balance" to protect those who required it to keep themselves safe, such as whistleblowers and those living under oppressive regimes.

"The elephant in the room in all this is the online hate that we all get, it’s out of control," he told Sky News.

"I know the Home Secretary has talked about what more she wants to do there and the Online Harms Bill is going through pre-legislative scrutiny.

"There is certainly an element of more people who are at-risk and vulnerable because they've been spending more time online.

"I’m absolutely confident that intelligence services and the police are monitoring that with maximum energy and vigour."

He added: "What you don't want to do is send a message to tyrants all over the world that they can expose people who are campaigning bravely and need that anonymity. Equally, we know that some of those campaigning are vulnerable and do not want to be in the public domain.

"I don't see why people should be able to abuse the position on social media from a veil of anonymity."

 

[Kermit Jizz]

This country is just cucked beyond belief. It's somehow ingrained into British culture that we must be as authoritarian as possible on almost every issue. It's not even a left vs right thing. There's no meaningful libertarian movement in the UK in either major party.

Well yeah, anyone with a backbone left nearly 3 centuries ago.

 

[BoobWhiskers]

“The fact that you can be anonymous online, gives you a certain amount of power, enables you to puff your chest out and be able to really say what you really feel"
How DARE people be allowed to say what they feel!

 

[teriyakiburns]

They have already laid the foundation with their proposed porn age verification system, an equally ill-thought idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_UK_Internet_age_verification_system

If you as a ruling politician suffer a setback with one censorship idea, you simply submit another slightly different one until one slips through the checks and balances, then you keep going and push for another and another and another.

The law is on the books, but they've thrown in the towel on trying to ever enforce it. The costs would be horrendous and the technical barriers are insurmountable. This new push is probably an attempt to revive some part of the porn loicense, but they'll just run head first into the same problems.

This country is just cucked beyond belief. It's somehow ingrained into British culture that we must be as authoritarian as possible on almost every issue. It's not even a left vs right thing. There's no meaningful libertarian movement in the UK in either major party.

It's the old paternalism again. I've probably ranted about this before, but there's a paternalist ideal that runs through the core of the British psyche, with a strong belief in the unquestioning respect of hierarchy that emerged from the relationship of the serfs to the aristocracy. It explains every weird aspect of English social discourse. It explains the BBC's arrogance toward the plebian mass. It certainly explains a great deal about what Boris does and what he believes. He styles himself as the rambunctious, well-meaning landowner type, the old lord in his mansion, who dotes on his tenants and ennobles them with his wise and careful guidance toward salvation.

We've mostly replaced the aristos with the media-political class, but they're taking the same basic role of "wise caretakers" to the unthinking mob.

 

[The Lizard Queen]

Suck it, monarchists.

 

[Coolio55]

Previously they used the "think of the children!" excuse but I'll give them credit for dropping all pretenses and just fully admitting that they hate any and all scrutiny.

Anyway, this will never happen. These people don't even understand how the internet works. They've tried this a million times and even working with actual technically literate entities (Ok, SEMI technically literate) who have a financial incentive to use this to block their competitors they still can't seem to put humpty dumpty together.

Also, another killer that was well known to all relevant authorities before the attack and openly stated his intentions to anyone that would lend an ear.

 

[Cardef1121]

I dunno. This could open a new avenue of money-making for grifters and layabouts: Professional shitposter. Pay my fee and I'll post your screed to the politician or public figure of your choice from here in America. I've already seen tons of comments offering to do just that, for free, in stories about people going to jail for calling a soccer player a nigger or whatever.

 

[Cyclonus]

Looks like we'll have to go back to poison pen letters.

 

[MemoriesOfMemphis]

This country is just cucked beyond belief. It's somehow ingrained into British culture that we must be as authoritarian as possible on almost every issue. It's not even a left vs right thing. There's no meaningful libertarian movement in the UK in either major party.

"no meaningful libertarian party" no official parties sure but there's plenty of freedom groups, even one of my own.

 

[Dagobert]

If this gets passed, I wonder if I could set up a business of sending hate messages from America. A Britbongistani sends me an email with a message and a dollar, I then proceed to send said message to their MP. I don't even need to be anonymous to do it, I could twiddle my dick at them from another nation and there's jack shit they could actually do.

 

[kcbbq]

Patel is doing God's work, doxing the fuck out of literally everyone for the ease of anyone who is not under her jackboots that is investigating a bong. Epic.

 

[DJ Grelle]

Well, at least you aren't speaking german : ^)
GOTT STRAFE ENGLAND

tbh its pretty hard to enforce that & it'll drive discourse just off the internet and back into the pubs.

 

[Kermit Jizz]

Well, at least you aren't speaking german : ^)
GOTT STRAFE ENGLAND

tbh its pretty hard to enforce that & it'll drive discourse just off the internet and back into the pubs.

But they already have a reason to close the pubs down too.

 

[Freesia]

Why is anyone surprised? This is what British people are like.

 

[Ly Erg]

Honestly couldn't give a shit about the welfare of UK politicans and this alone just proves it. All about freedom of speech till someone calls them a cunt which case they want people arrested and throw them in prison.

Rules for thee, none for me.

 

[whatever I feel like]

They are going to boil the choads and will probably get away with it for decades, but doing so will lead to normal people going on the dark net for things other than drugs and child pornography and then boom, in thirty years you'll be fucked when trying to contain the next big social rebellion.

 

[Billy Beer]

There's no Constitution in Britain, you don't have any freedoms.

Imagine being this retarded. Who wrote the version that America copied their constitution from? Mong.

They are going to boil the choads and will probably get away with it for decades, but doing so will lead to normal people going on the dark net for things other than drugs and child pornography and then boom, in thirty years you'll be fucked when trying to contain the next big social rebellion.

The internet is a fad that has had it's day in the sun. Much like radio and TV, it will still exist in some form, even if it's just a means to do shopping. But pushing for this will send the vast majority of the internet, off of the internet. It will become a bland wasteland of checking emails and online shopping.

Think what would happen to ad revenue, and thus websites, if they saw a plummet of even 30% in the time users spent on their website. It would be the first domino to fall and be the catalyst of the cause of the collapse. The internet bubble has to burst at some point. Removing online anonymity will be the knife that does it.