Well, just wondered if anyone has seen this video and how we should uphold our privacy?
It would appear to be the thin end of the 1984 wedge. If using the internet period is going to require me to provide proof of who I am to third parties, then I will not be risking the very real risk of Identity theft. What are your views on this? We need to have an open discussion about this, particularly as GNU/Linux is a potential threat to the IT 'establishment' will we be denied access to sites because we are not using the 'industry standard' OS? This is not just happening in the UK but globally. If this Orwellian dystopia comes to pass then I will become a Luddite and stay offline.
I agree with you. You voice valid potential concerns.
While the OSA does not, in itself, discriminate by Operating System, the tools that are put into place for such enforcement might not be GnuLinux friendly or compatible.
Usage of the Internet itself would not require identity or age verification. Instead, OSA seeks to create a situation where websites that have Higher Risk Content must be liable to ensure that verification is handled.
However, companies tend to err heavily on the side of caution in such cases. Here in the USA, when FAFSA was introduced, many websites, for their own legal safety, cut certain services all together.
Thank you for seeing the light after your initial response to me in the pm I sent you. This legislation and mirrored legislation in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and up to 40+ U.S. states with enacted or pending similar legislation which in all countries and U.S. States cross political divides.
To the politicians doing this ... You Sir/Madam are LIARS
it was never about "protecting the children" it is solely about MASS SURVEILLANCE and the tracking and tracing of ALL internet traffic for total control of the populace whom you despise.
BTW @swarfendor437 you chose an excellent video by David Bombal a security expert I have high regard for to kick off this extremely important discussion.
I can just see the day when "We are sorry to inform you that your OS is not compatible with our website. Please pay for a valid OS to help support our benefactors. Our site relies on you having a valid account from Microsoft."
@Nirozzz When have politicians not been liars? That is why I don't vote. You may have heard of the Post Office scandal. I wrote to my MP (Labour Party representative) asking to speed up compensation process. I also stated that this together with WASPI women could all be resolved by the Treasury reintroducing the Bradbury pound, because as a Sovereign nation we (as all other nations) can print our own money which is legal tender. Even Abraham Lincoln did this at the time of the US Civil War by introducing the 'greenback dollar' because London banks would have charged him 30% interest.
All I got back several weeks later two days ago, a bland statement that over a billion pounds had been given in compensation but this still does not include some postmasters still waiting for compensation including Sir Alan Bates who brought the scandal to light. As they have lied about the Online Safety Act they should rename it the Online Surveillance Act.
A lot of banter when things go wrong is the lack of 'joined up working'. Perhaps this is the counterpart of the OSA.
The stage has been set so that everyone will eventually have to go through the same hoops controlled by a selected few, for everything that happens not just online, but digitally. Every purchase, every subscription and every social interaction.
Of course, none of it is about protecting the children. How long this sorry of an excuse has worked to pass all sorts of tyrannical laws into effect is just mind blowing to me.
I watched a video in the last few days stating this was a plan to be implemented by 2030 possibly a Microsoft plan. Unfortunately I could not find it again due to the enormous volume of videos I watch, unless I bookmark it or it was the same day or yesterday I am unlikely to find it again, I did look but ...
I must ask all contributors to this thread to please adhere to the merit of evidence.
Certainly, as we go, we can develop opinions and these must be tempered by and tested by the merit of evidence.
A video might have a talking head which explains their speculations and opinions about a matter. It does not necessarily relay valid information. The internet is filled with videos that supply lots of misinformation.
Contributing to this thread can include questions or statements in our own words. To fact check and verify, and to ensure we spread valid helpful information.
A petition only needs 100,000 signatures to trigger a debate in parliament.
I was asked to inform my MP - this is what I wrote:
" Dear Oxxxxx,
Today I have signed the petition to repeal the Online Safety Act. Why? Because this is a backdoor attempt to quell democracy, for freedom of speech to be heard. The legislation can be likened to terrorists using human shields, but in this case Parliament is hiding behind children's safeguarding. Parents need to take responsibility what their children are accessing. This can already be done by using services offered by OpenDNS which allows parents to block access to sites that are harmful to children. I am no cyber expert so I draw your attention to someone who is:
The current government promised transparency, but clearly this is not the case. What government should have done was to take legal action against social media and other social platforms that are not moderating its content by fining said company millions of pounds - this would make them sit up and take notice. It appears that only the EU are taking action against big Tech Companies instead of subjugating it's citizens.
This is no way to treat sane minded members of the public. What is needed is better education of parents and to inform them of what tools to use. Some children should not be able to access the internet at all, especially during formative years and GNU/Linux distributions such as Zorin OS provides a built in solution that allows a children's account to access software such as Education Suite GCompris, but have no access to a browser.
Being a Canadian myself, there are a lot of bills that come and go. A lot of them are terrible, for one reason or another. Just because a Bill is being introduced, doesn't mean that it'll become law.
That being said, and this is probably not a common view, but I actually initially hated the idea of bill C-18 (now the online news act, as its law now). After its been put in, I actually have found more things randomly relating to Canadians over Americans, and you know what? I kind of like that. Here's the law, just as reference:
And that being said, a lot of the bills I oppose heavily for MANY reasons. But I also believe that people (for the MOST part) put forward these bills not maliciously, but as a genuine attempt at fixing a problem thats been noticed, but they fail to go through all thoughts on exactly HOW it affects EVERYTHING that it touches. Hanlon's Razer, if you will.
This "Bill" does little to nothing to add to the discussion on this thread about online censoring being disguised as "protecting children online" however this proposed Bill C-63 which for now and I quote "died on the Order Paper with the dissolution of parliament in January 2025. The government’s commitment to addressing online harms remains."(emphasis added by myself)
From this linked page ...
"These duties would have applied to social media services including livestreaming and user-uploaded adult content services. They would have required these services to actively reduce the risk of exposure to harmful content on their services; to provide clear and accessible ways to flag harmful content and block users; to put in place special protections for children" further ...
"The Act would have established a Digital Safety Commission of Canada and a Digital Safety Ombudsperson of Canada, supported administratively by a Digital Safety Office. The Commission would have overseen and enforced the new regulatory framework and the Ombudsperson would have acted as a resource and advocate for users and victims.
This Bill would have been an essential step forward in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of Canadians on social media platforms ."
There is and cannot be any argument that child p____graphy* should be illegal as it already is in Canada with laws already in place to prosecute offenders however this proposed Bill is clearly following the playbook now established in the U.K. and Bills/Laws/Legislation soon to or already implemented in Australia, NZ and many U.S. States which are disguised mass censorship and surveillance.
Hmm, I had to censor a certain word due to censoring on this forum
An internet forum is a private entity.
This particular forum is not Reddit, nor is it "anything goes." Members are expected to adhere to decorum.
The bill, C-63, needed to flounder. The proposed bill subjected the enabling of determining offenses of other issues like 'hate speech" by a balance of probabilities rather than by a legal standard.
It allows for punishment, including house arrest, based on suspicion that a person may commit a hate crime, not for a committed offense.
As we saw with FOSTA in the USA, many social media platforms would likely go overboard in their restrictions, due to the strong climate of fear such an over-expansive law would put into place.
This reminds me of Capt. Mal Reynolds speech aboard Serenity:
Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better.
This is why such advocacy exists and must remain vigilant to present the arguments.
