>The online message board 4chan is being investigated by the UK communications regulator over failure to comply with recently introduced online safety rules.
>Ofcom says it has received complaints over potential illegal content on the website, which has not responded to its requests for information.
>Under the Online Safety Act, online services must assess the risk of UK users encountering illegal content and activity on their platforms, and take steps to protect them from it.
>Ofcom is also investigating porn provider First Time Videos over its age verification checks, and seven file sharing services over potential child sexual abuse material.
>4chan has been contacted for comment.
>Ofcom says it requested 4chan's risk assessment in April but has not had any response.
>The regulator will now investigate whether the platform "has failed, or is failing, to comply with its duties to protect its users from illegal content".
>It would not say what kind of illegal content it is investigating.
>Ofcom has the power to fine companies up to 10% of their global revenues, or £18m - whichever is the greater number.
>4chan has often been at the heart of online controversies in its 22 years, including misogynistic campaigns and conspiracy theories.
>Users are anonymous, which can often lead to extreme content being posted.
>It was the subject of an alleged hack earlier this year, which took parts of the website down for over a week.
The gilded cage for UK internet users is about to get much, much smaller.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250128165536/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer
/cyb/ - Cyberpunk Fiction and Fact
Cyberpunk is the idea that technology will condemn us to a future of totalitarian nightmares here you can discuss recent events and how technology has been used to facilitate greater control by the elites, or works of fiction
15 replies | 6 files | 9 UUIDs | Page 1
Anonymous
No.3709
>>3708
This makes me think about "the rules". Dictated by some, and enforced by some. In the end it is all about who has bigger guns.
This makes me think about "the rules". Dictated by some, and enforced by some. In the end it is all about who has bigger guns.
"I like Hitler's mustache" is illegal hate speech in the UK. A frog could croak in the woods and the UK government would begin investigating it for dangerous mouth sounds. If the UK doesn't think 4chan is properly following UK law, then the UK ought to block UK citizens from visiting 4chan. What right or capability do they have to fine 4chan anyway?
>Uhmm hey company from another country, you did a heckin racism so you need to pay a fine to our government, or.. or else!
What a bunch of fags!
>Uhmm hey company from another country, you did a heckin racism so you need to pay a fine to our government, or.. or else!
What a bunch of fags!
>>3710
>A frog could croak in the woods and the UK government would begin investigating it for dangerous mouth sounds.
Ha! Yeah thats about right.
>What right or capability do they have to fine 4chan anyway?
They don't, however that doesn't stop them from creating a dystopian, authoritarian 'superpower' in the pursuit of 'equality and child safety'. One of the major caveats of the Online Safety Act (other then its intentionally ambiguous phrasing) is the government wants to break end to end encryption for safety reasons. They tried this with Apple recently (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20g288yldkoto) the point that they even gave Apple a secret gag order (https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366620601/US-Congress-demands-UK-lifts-gag-on-Apple-encryption-order) to prevent them from informing users. They have no doubt done this with other companies, and we may never know for sure how said companies responded.
>A frog could croak in the woods and the UK government would begin investigating it for dangerous mouth sounds.
Ha! Yeah thats about right.
>What right or capability do they have to fine 4chan anyway?
They don't, however that doesn't stop them from creating a dystopian, authoritarian 'superpower' in the pursuit of 'equality and child safety'. One of the major caveats of the Online Safety Act (other then its intentionally ambiguous phrasing) is the government wants to break end to end encryption for safety reasons. They tried this with Apple recently (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20g288yldkoto) the point that they even gave Apple a secret gag order (https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366620601/US-Congress-demands-UK-lifts-gag-on-Apple-encryption-order) to prevent them from informing users. They have no doubt done this with other companies, and we may never know for sure how said companies responded.
Great.
Anonymous
No.3713
>>3711
>however that doesn't stop them from creating a dystopian, authoritarian 'superpower'
I really hope the UK to tight even more the budget and starve their shitkins on welfare. Then the lulz will begin for real.
>however that doesn't stop them from creating a dystopian, authoritarian 'superpower'
I really hope the UK to tight even more the budget and starve their shitkins on welfare. Then the lulz will begin for real.
Anonymous
No.3715
>>3714
Service uptime graph for various mobile (cell) providers, and Virgin, BT and Sky being the largest internet service providers in the UK (https://downdetector.co.uk/).
It's quite suspect that every single one has been having issues, which would suggest an infrastructure change further up the chain. It could be a minor misconfiguration, or it might be relation to a new General Act released (http://web.archive.org/web/20250621050227/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/18/enacted)
>An Act to make provision about access to customer data and business data; to make provision about services consisting of the use of information to ascertain and verify facts about individuals; to make provision about the recording and sharing, and keeping of registers, of information relating to apparatus in streets; to make provision about the keeping and maintenance of registers of births and deaths; to make provision for the regulation of the processing of information relating to identified or identifiable living individuals; to make provision about privacy and electronic communications; to establish the Information Commission; to make provision about information standards for health and social care; to make provision about the grant of smart meter communication licences; to make provision about the disclosure of information to improve public service delivery; to make provision about the retention of information by providers of internet services in connection with investigations into child deaths; to make provision about providing information for purposes related to the carrying out of independent research into online safety matters; to make provision about the retention of biometric data; to make provision about services for the provision of electronic signatures, electronic seals and other trust services; to make provision about works protected by copyright and the development of artificial intelligence systems; to make provision about the creation of purported intimate images; and for connected purposes.
Service uptime graph for various mobile (cell) providers, and Virgin, BT and Sky being the largest internet service providers in the UK (https://downdetector.co.uk/).
It's quite suspect that every single one has been having issues, which would suggest an infrastructure change further up the chain. It could be a minor misconfiguration, or it might be relation to a new General Act released (http://web.archive.org/web/20250621050227/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/18/enacted)
>An Act to make provision about access to customer data and business data; to make provision about services consisting of the use of information to ascertain and verify facts about individuals; to make provision about the recording and sharing, and keeping of registers, of information relating to apparatus in streets; to make provision about the keeping and maintenance of registers of births and deaths; to make provision for the regulation of the processing of information relating to identified or identifiable living individuals; to make provision about privacy and electronic communications; to establish the Information Commission; to make provision about information standards for health and social care; to make provision about the grant of smart meter communication licences; to make provision about the disclosure of information to improve public service delivery; to make provision about the retention of information by providers of internet services in connection with investigations into child deaths; to make provision about providing information for purposes related to the carrying out of independent research into online safety matters; to make provision about the retention of biometric data; to make provision about services for the provision of electronic signatures, electronic seals and other trust services; to make provision about works protected by copyright and the development of artificial intelligence systems; to make provision about the creation of purported intimate images; and for connected purposes.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
>>3717
To be perfectly honest I've always thought 1984 was kind of an overrated book. At the same time I'm a little impressed at how effectively modern Britain has managed to emulate it, while simultaneously convincing its population that they're doing the opposite of emulating it.
To be perfectly honest I've always thought 1984 was kind of an overrated book. At the same time I'm a little impressed at how effectively modern Britain has managed to emulate it, while simultaneously convincing its population that they're doing the opposite of emulating it.
>>3718
It only seems overrated because we have since learned that people are so much worse than the characters depicted in the book. When Orwell wrote it in 1949 it was positively shocking.
It only seems overrated because we have since learned that people are so much worse than the characters depicted in the book. When Orwell wrote it in 1949 it was positively shocking.
Anonymous
No.3720
>>3718
>At the same time I'm a little impressed at how effectively modern Britain has managed to emulate it
The normies are going to norm. Every Single Time.
>At the same time I'm a little impressed at how effectively modern Britain has managed to emulate it
The normies are going to norm. Every Single Time.
Anonymous
No.3721
>>3719
The Overton Window has been moved underground, to a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory.
The Overton Window has been moved underground, to a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory.
Further bullshit
>Pornhub and a number of other major adult websites have confirmed they will introduce enhanced age checks for users from next month.
>Parent company Aylo says it is bringing in "government approved age assurance methods" but has not yet revealed how it will require users to prove they are over 18.
>Regulator Ofcom has previously said simply clicking a button, which is all the adult site currently requires, is not enough.
>Ofcom said the changes would "bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world."
>The Online Safety Act requires adult sites to introduce "robust" age checking techniques by this summer.
>Approved measures include demanding photo ID or running credit card checks before users can view sexually explicit material.
>"Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren't suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling," said Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom's group director of online safety, in a statement.
>"For too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online."
>Mr Griffiths said assurances from Aylo and several other porn providers, including Stripchat and Streamate, regarding the introduction of new age checks showed "change is happening".
>The regulator said its recent research indicated 8% of children aged 8-14 in the UK had visited an online porn site or app over a 28-day period.
>This included about 3% of eight to nine year olds, its survey suggests.
>"We know that highly effective age assurance can play a vital role in protecting young users from accessing harmful and inappropriate material on social media and other platforms," said Rani Govender, policy manager for child safety online at the NSPCC.
>"It is time tech companies take responsibility for ensuring children have safe, age-appropriate experiences online, and we welcome the progress that Ofcom are making in this space."
...
>Under the Online Safety Act, providers of platforms where children could encounter porn and harmful content must have measures in place to stop them accessing it.
>The Act requires this to take place chiefly through the use of technology that is "highly effective" in determining whether a user is 18.
>Ofcom said in January, external this could include solutions such as photo ID matching, digital identity services or facial age estimation.
>Porn providers that fail to meet the Act's requirements could face enforcement action such as huge fines.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250626114338/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr5v2lz5vl6o
>Pornhub and a number of other major adult websites have confirmed they will introduce enhanced age checks for users from next month.
>Parent company Aylo says it is bringing in "government approved age assurance methods" but has not yet revealed how it will require users to prove they are over 18.
>Regulator Ofcom has previously said simply clicking a button, which is all the adult site currently requires, is not enough.
>Ofcom said the changes would "bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world."
>The Online Safety Act requires adult sites to introduce "robust" age checking techniques by this summer.
>Approved measures include demanding photo ID or running credit card checks before users can view sexually explicit material.
>"Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren't suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling," said Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom's group director of online safety, in a statement.
>"For too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online."
>Mr Griffiths said assurances from Aylo and several other porn providers, including Stripchat and Streamate, regarding the introduction of new age checks showed "change is happening".
>The regulator said its recent research indicated 8% of children aged 8-14 in the UK had visited an online porn site or app over a 28-day period.
>This included about 3% of eight to nine year olds, its survey suggests.
>"We know that highly effective age assurance can play a vital role in protecting young users from accessing harmful and inappropriate material on social media and other platforms," said Rani Govender, policy manager for child safety online at the NSPCC.
>"It is time tech companies take responsibility for ensuring children have safe, age-appropriate experiences online, and we welcome the progress that Ofcom are making in this space."
...
>Under the Online Safety Act, providers of platforms where children could encounter porn and harmful content must have measures in place to stop them accessing it.
>The Act requires this to take place chiefly through the use of technology that is "highly effective" in determining whether a user is 18.
>Ofcom said in January, external this could include solutions such as photo ID matching, digital identity services or facial age estimation.
>Porn providers that fail to meet the Act's requirements could face enforcement action such as huge fines.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250626114338/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr5v2lz5vl6o