UK Government Drawing Up Proposals To Criminalise Dissent
I don't know if this is 100% strictly privacy related but I think it does fall in the sphere of protecting one's right to express oneself privately.
"Government officials have drawn up deeply controversial proposals to broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the country’s institutions and its values, according to documents seen by the Observer.
The new definition, prepared by civil servants working for cabinet minister Michael Gove, is fiercely opposed by a cohort of officials who fear legitimate groups and individuals will be branded extremists.
The proposals have provoked a furious response from civil rights groups with some warning it risks “criminalising dissent”, and would significantly suppress freedom of expression."
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/04/plans-to-redefine-extremism-would-include-undermining-uk-valuesOpen linkView original on lemmy.blahaj.zone
Not having healthcare is kind of a big deal. It’s easy for us Europeans to forget the implications, but for a significant portion of the US populous, if they get sick they’ll either go bankrupt or they’ll simply just die. Which is insane.
"Better than the US" is a bit too unspecific to judge. If you mean for privacy, the UK is certainly on the bad end of things.
This is one I'd say is comparing apples to oranges. They each are good and bad in different ways. The unfortunate thing is that our current government wants the UK to be more like the US which will be a net negative to everyone in the UK. For example, they've been gutting the NHS for years to pave the way for a privatised hellscape.
I dont care to compare. I dont need to lord over people on whose country is turning more shit. Just do what you can to stop this current worldwide rise in fascism. VOTE (if you can).
It's not as if the u.s. doesn't have anti-bds laws. Also if the conservatives/Republicans were in power in the u.s. like in the u.k. they definitely would be trying something similar to this
That idea fell way off for me after the lies and manipulation of Brexit.
UK has always been slowly moving towards 1984.
They shear amount of CCTV is extremely unsettling for foreigners visiting.
Tories.
Oh yeah, because authoritarianism doesn't give large chunks of the labour party massive hard ons too.
If they'd had their way all our biometrics would be on a database and we'd have to have our id cards with us at all times.
Yes, that's true. Recently though, the ones responsible have been Tories. But I agree. There's a general tendency in the governing culture of the UK to override basic rights in the name of expediency or convenience for the government.
Oh absolutely. I just think that there's a danger that people will think if the Tories are out of power all of these kinds of proposals will just disappear.
Well.. The voters who vote for Tories..
Having lived in various countries in Europe including over a decade in the UK, my theory is three fold:
Murdoch is the main driving force. He got Tony Blair in, and after the Leveson Inquiry where the ethics of the press was called into question and found wanting, absolutely nothing was done (under Cameron).
Conservatism is fascism in a trench coat
#ThanksGaza for exposing these governments.
Monarchy, dictatorship ... potato patato
They're not a monarchy though, and haven't been for a long time. They're a parliamentary democracy, or at least they have been. They're definitely edging dictatorship.
Queen died, and they gained her spoiled cunt of a son as a king.
Oh yeah that's it, the 63rd inbred figurehead that finally did the trick
1984 was supposed to be a warning, not a fucking manual.
Lol fr. It's like they watched all the movies and books about dystopia and thought, "okay, this looks good, let's do this"
Even the wording and grammar sounds like they are doing a 1984 parody
Honestly a lot of things today seem like funhouse mirrors of scifi dystopias. There is something to be asked of chicken or the egg with our similarities. Did the writers just think about how we would eventually end up and just got slightly wrong with the details or did someone with terrible social skills and a fucked up hyper focused head think it was a good idea and aimed to make it reality.
It happens all the time with items from Star Trek. Literally engineers wanting to make the gadgets they saw and even Meta pulls it's name from a dystopia novel that Zuck thinks is neat instead of horrifying.
So do we put forth ideas only to normalize them and make them true? Do thoughts become reality whether good or bad? Or do people have the ability to extrapolate where we are heading through guess work and random chance with enough time and effort?
Because I'm horrified if twilight becomes real... Oh God is it already real?? Has anyone been to Utah lately?!
don't forget to practice your double think
Doubleplus ungood.
The day after the 5th of November. Nothing bad ever happens when you suppress the freedom of speech and the right to protest.
Climate protests are probably gonna be illegal in many places soon.. :(
Lol, that and Israel is what this is all about.
Honestly I think climate protests are the least of your concern. Before you know it we will need to be careful not to commit though crime as then the thought police will find us
Guess I'm an extremist 🤷♂️
Who gets to define what the country's values are? Who defines which activities undermine them and its institutions? You could plausibly argue that the present Conservative government is working hard to undermine the country's values and institutions. You could argue that introducing this very bill is an attempt to undermine the country's values and institutions.
No no no, you see you're missing that only browns and poors can do that.
"You're no longer allowed to be upset at your government and if you are you'll be met with violence"
people use violence
"They just love violence nobody said they were upset!"
Are we in the V for vendetta timeline now?
remember remember
The 5th of November...oh shit that was yesterday.
Yeah, almost seems like a bit too much of a coincidence to me...
Finally, its about time. We need to centralize authority as democracy never does anything good
Edit: this is a joke just to be clear
Die in a hole, in Minecraft
That's not very Orwellian of you
holy shit let me out of here
if you're serious, then here's two places i recommend to make a start on that train of thought
https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org should clue you in on which "advanced economies" might skew towards the life factors that interest you
and https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison-tool might help you narrow down which of these will be a better cultural fit
i'm aware there's a lot of subjectivity in these two links but, it could help you make a start.
many people are great at saying "get me out of here" online, but not many people follow up that thought, and ask themselves "but where to?"
be one of those who answers the second question. start working on your escape today! 💪
thank you!
Just leave. I did it in 2018. They can't force you to stay in this shithole.
Not yet, you mean.
I also left, for me in 2021.
Life really is better if you can get out. The process is no walk in the park but it is a temporary pain.
PredatorHandshake.gif
I think one of the things I'll miss the most if I do is the London underground. it's such a convenient form of travel for me
Many major cities in Europe have a metro system similar to London Underground. I live in Barcelona, and their metro has LU beat hands down. Trains come literally every two minutes and cost a little over a Euro when you buy a 10-ride ticket
Wow. This is two shakes short of full-blown Fascism.
Sweet Jesus, it really is time to bail. Any recommendations on where to go? I'm hearing the weather is much better in France and Spain.
Is Scotland on board with this dictatorship malarky or are they fighting it? I didn't see them kick up a fuss about the online safety bill which made it to law, which makes me think they aren't fighting it.
Yeah but how do we leave without a crap ton of money to buy our citizenship in another country?
I was considering moving to Scotland if they vote to leave the UK and rejoin the EU
I honestly dont know how most of us can make a move happen. Its a shit state of affairs.
I hoped that Scotland was going to be our get out of jail card too. I'm still hoping.
You don't have to buy citizenship in the United States or Canada. Both countries are also fighting internal fascism, but it's not as bad as what we're seeing in the UK.
Being a permanent resident is essentially buying citizenship since you're not allowed to work, living in those countries without working isn't cheap
Every immigrant I know has a work visa. They work and live here. Their lives are basically the same as regular citizens except they can't be unemployed, they have to update their visa every year, and they can't vote. After 7 years on a work visa you can apply for citizenship in the United States.
Macron in France has seemingly had similar fascist quivers running down his leg.
France is right behind the UK right now. It's not as bad yet but will be in the near future.
For those that don't know, look at Michael Gove -
And remember that wimpy kid from your school who was horribly, horribly bullied
Then think about what a fuckin psychopath they'd be now if they were in a position of power
Whoever thought 1984 would become a documentary - and V for Vendetta a possible solution.
I mean, George Orwell wasn't exactly optimistic about the future outlook.
‘If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever.’
Its kind of ironic that its happening in the UK of all places
Everyone that seen the UK go ?
Sounds CCP as fuck to me
Can't beat 'em, join 'em.
You down with CCP (Yeah you know me)
Who's down with CCP (Every last homie)
You down with CCP (Yeah you know me)
Who's down with CCP (All the homies)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Government officials have drawn up deeply controversial proposals to broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the country’s institutions and its values, according to documents seen by the Observer.
The new definition, prepared by civil servants working for cabinet minister Michael Gove, is fiercely opposed by a cohort of officials who fear legitimate groups and individuals will be branded extremists.
Last week the home secretary, Suella Braverman, described pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London as “hate marches”, prompting dismay from many participants who consider themselves peace campaigners.
Martin Bright, editor-at-large, Index on Censorship, added: “This is an unwarranted attack on freedom of expression and would potentially criminalise every student radical and revolutionary dissident.
The government’s 2011 Prevent strategy defined extremism as the “active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs”.
Under the proposed definition in the documents, extremism would be the promotion of any ideology which aims to “overturn or undermine the UK’s democracy, its institutions and values; or threaten the rights of individuals or create a permissive environment for radicalisation, hate crime and terrorism”.
The original article contains 948 words, the summary contains 193 words. Saved 80%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Good bot
I want off Mr Gove's wild ride.
Welp, I recommend getting it out of your system while you can
the uk fucking sucks please let it sink into the ocean or someone please blow up parliament
I liked the video documentary on this
Finally, we need to stop the spread of dangerous ideas
US did that, too.
For fucks sake, that shit was passed and then either expired or was repealed TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
This level of "Whataboutism" shouldn't even be possible.
Objection, relevance.
The Alien and Sedition Acts are widely known as some of the worst legislation ever passed in the US, in large part because of the Sedition Act, which was used to suppress speech critical of the Adams administration.
Yes, but this is a thread about UK trying to criminalize dissent in 2020s. What the US did hundred+ years ago is wholly irrelevant to the discussion of UK policy in modern times imo.
It's relevant because it's another example of criminalizing dissent, and it was a bad idea even then. "We've been over this, the world knows this is a bad idea."
But fuck historical context, right?
Yes it's another example of something similar, but again, with the vastly different times, cultures, technological capabilities, and legal frameworks, I'd argue that relevance is largely nonexistent or the connection between the two attenuated to the point that any similarities are largely useless for comparison and irrelevant when discussing the issue in the current context.
I bet you ignore news from last week, too.
A personal attack. Nice argument. Much value.
Thankfully it only lasted 2 years. But during that time it sounds like it was a plan to suppress the presidential competition that backfired. It's good to know that humanity has always sucked.
As it turns out Countries which fought the Nazi Reich, at great cost, which have been hit with massive Muslim Terrorist attacks don't take too kindly to hundreds of thousands of Muslim terrorists, and Islamic terrorist supporters marching through their streets screaming "Kill All The Jews", I mean, who knew
do you know how much of a massive stupid cunt you are?
Hundreds of thousands of terrorists marched through the streets? Lol.
It's probably a cumulative figure.
Citation needed for the bolded bit. I must have missed the coverage of this event.
@downpunxx
is a shameless pro israel shill, it aint here for a discussion lol
I know I know - asking for citations is my standard response for folks of that ilk. Magas get the same treatment.
Generally they reply with nothing but the sound of crickets.