| ▲ | sd9 2 hours ago |
| Are the sibling comments astroturfed? This seems like such a bizarre thing to be talking about in relation to an Anthropic model release. As someone from the UK, I don't feel like I'm living in an authoritarian country. And yet most of the sibling comments are insinuating that I am. Weird. |
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| ▲ | Macha 22 minutes ago | parent | next [-] |
| The UK has very recently[1] announced a new push for client side scanning by messaging providers which is both very likely to be unpopular and known here, so once one person cracks the joke, others are going to want to comment. Don’t think that requires astroturfing. [1]: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/08/starmer-t... |
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| ▲ | killerstorm 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I'm sure there are people in Russia, China, ... who don't feel like they're living in an authoritarian country. |
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| ▲ | tene80i an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | If you think Britain and Russia or China are equivalent in terms of government overreach, you need to find new sources of information. | | |
| ▲ | nonethewiser 43 minutes ago | parent [-] | | > If you think Britain and Russia or China are equivalent in terms of government overreach, you need to find new sources of information. Uh... you are making his point. People from way more authoritarian countries don't necessarily feel like they are living in an authoritarian country. Therefore whether or not it "feels" like you are living in one isn't a reliable measure. | | |
| ▲ | tene80i 22 minutes ago | parent [-] | | Trivially true I suppose, but it doesn’t make my point irrelevant - do you think Britain is equivalent to China and Russia? If everyone does but us then yes my goodness they’ve done a good job controlling us, but that seems far fetched. |
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| ▲ | ebbi an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | It's true (from a perception perspective): China soars in democratic perception ranking as US, Israel plummet: Poll https://thecradle.co/articles/china-soars-in-democratic-perc... | | | |
| ▲ | 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | [deleted] |
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| ▲ | r721 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| It's just people who use "For You" algorithm on X. |
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| ▲ | nonethewiser an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Neither do people living in China |
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| ▲ | HDThoreaun 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| HN is extremely pro free speech and the UK has recently decided to engage in censorship. Part of the issue users here reckon with is the recency. Unlike many authoritarian countries that seem hopeless with regards to free speech the UKs censorship is a recent development that many think can still be undone through political action. Similar to takes on why Israel is being protested when places like sudan arent. |
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| ▲ | sd9 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | This has passed me by - can you give me some specific examples? I personally don't feel limited in my speech, but I'm willing to accept that I may be wrong Nobody I know in real life is talking about censorship or free speech in the UK | | |
| ▲ | nonethewiser 38 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | > Nobody I know in real life is talking about censorship or free speech in the UK Yeah because free speech has never really been a core value in the UK | |
| ▲ | JacobAsmuth an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | "Nobody I know is talking about censorship" is a certified HN banger. | | |
| ▲ | sd9 an hour ago | parent [-] | | I don't know, I would expect it to come up in the pub or something if people were concerned about it, it's not like we have the thought police here | | |
| ▲ | ccppurcell 21 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | Hey man, fellow Brit here. The American view on certain aspects of British life is insane. I've lived in not one but two places that have been called Muslim no-go zones in American media. My main memory of living near the east London mosque is an elderly Muslim trying to offer my his seat on the bus (I was on crutches) while two drunk gammons looked on gormlessly. On the other hand, it is quite alarming that I can no longer say I support all non violent protests against the genocide in Palestine because that would include the group Palestine Action. It's amazing that supporting them openly is essentially equivalent to supporting Al Qaeda. | |
| ▲ | ebbi an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | Sounds like the people around you don't care about the things that is actually eroding free speech. Read about Dr Aladwan - an NHS doctor - who has barred from practising because of her comments on Israel. Read the common articles about her (BBC etc), and then go actually read her tweets. Common BS of conflating criticism of a government (Israel) with antisemitism. Also, this article may be of interest: China soars in democratic perception ranking as US, Israel plummet: Poll https://thecradle.co/articles/china-soars-in-democratic-perc... |
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| ▲ | adammarples 21 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | My dear friend, please start with the online safety act, and continue with the recent developments regarding age verification and/or device scanning on all operating systems to check for nudity. No, nobody is talking about it here, but we should be. | |
| ▲ | tene80i an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | They’re talking about British hate speech laws. They think other countries have universal free speech and they absolutely do not, but for some reason they think Britain goes too far. Although “think” is probably too generous - they’re parroting talking points. | | | |
| ▲ | HDThoreaun an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | The UK has a censorship bureau, ofcom. The example that comes up most here is 4chan, which the UK is currently trying to ban because they refuse to do age verification. If you read the threads here you will see other stories. One that sticks out to me is someone who was talking about their struggles running a forum about depression. They live in canada and were contacted by ofcom demanding the forum add age verification, cant totally remember the reason but it was something about kids being able to access talk about depression. Ofcom said that if he doesnt add age verification to his forum he will be arrested if he ever enters the UK. He even blocked uk IPs but they said that wasnt enough. We can quibble about whether age verification is a form of censorship, I think it clearly is, if only because it is a large regulatory hurdle that stops people from hosting forums because its too much regulatory work. The UK also has a very broad definition of hate speech that many users here detest. | | |
| ▲ | sd9 an hour ago | parent [-] | | Makes sense, thank you. I am opposed to the age verification laws that we have introduced recently. |
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| ▲ | Flere-Imsaho an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | Indeed: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce83pj1ggmeo In the uk you can very much be imprisoned for "hate speech", which in my view is a form of censorship. |
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