Interesting Links for 26-04-2023

[andrewducker]

1. New UK rules ban subscription traps and fake reviews

(tags:reviews business internet uk law )

2. Social networks run on vibes. Do not fuck with them.

(tags:socialnetworking epicfail )

3. One tiny illustrated sci-fi story every day

More ideas than stories, of course, and some repetition. But worth a look
(tags:scifi short_story )

4. What it was like to run Twitter's Trust and Safety team when Musk took over

(tags:Twitter safety )

5. 3% of people who lack UK voter ID have applied for it

(tags:voting IDCards UK politics )

Comments

[cmcmck]

5. I'm amazed just how biased towards the older voter the ID thing is- they don't even include a college ID card or Student Union card then whinge when the young don't vote!

And this doesn't even begin to address the corruption around postal voting!

[dewline]

2. This was posted by one of Dreamwidth's leaders. She is not joking, and she knows of what she speaks.

4. Yoel Roth did a job that deserves more than thanks. And this is what he gets. *disgusted sigh*

Do Google still say "Don't be evil" ?

[bens_dad]

1. When the Digital bill first came out I notified Dreamwidth and Denise (one of the two owners) got back to me to say that their lawyers had advised them that they did't have to worry about it.
I was concerned enough that a US social media company wasn't concerned about the bill that I wrote to my MP and received a reply from a government minister.

The bill has been rewritten since then, so maybe our watchdog will have useful teeth ...

Or maybe DW's lawyer's point was that the law will be satisfied by reasonable people doing their best so DW don't have to worry, but if DW aren't concerned, I worry that the big and not so nice players wont be concerned either.

Twitter's Trust and Safety

[agoodwinsmith]

I read this from a place of complete ignorance, and Holy Bananas.

Two subcultures clashing mightily: Musk doesn't know how Twitter works, not even a little bit, and Roth & team unprepared for the febrile rabidness of Muskians.

Wow and yikes. I am grateful that Roth & husband are alive - not kidding even a little bit.

[bens_dad]

I followed the links and comments further than I possibly should have, but people are saying that an older person can get an Oyster card must do an online "show me your passport and face" (or do the same thing at a Post Office) whereas a student can get an Oyster card with no strong ID checks.
If true, then there is a technical reason for the difference, although it does have a bad political smell.

[andrewducker]

Agreed on the Oyster card. But I don't understand why they can't do student ID cards (if they have a photo)

[andrewducker]

I've known her (remotely) for almost 20 years and she is awesome.

Re: Do Google still say "Don't be evil" ?

[andrewducker]

Which part of the UK bill are you thinking would affect them?

[bens_dad]

I have a photo ID from when I did some evening classes a couple of years ago. There were no ID checks at all, when they took the photo they just checked that my name was on the list of students signed up for the course, that I had paid and presumably that I did not already have an ID card.

[andrewducker]

Ah, fair enough. I'm fairly sure it was more stringent when I was a student, but that may have been in a different context.

Re: Do Google still say "Don't be evil" ?

[bens_dad]

The Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy told my MP:

The new legislation will have extraterritorial effect. This means that any organisation that offers in-scope services to UK users will be required to meet their duties wherever they are based in the world. Ofcom can take enforcement action against any in-scope provider, regardless of where they are based. Where an organisation fails to fulfil their duties, Ofcom will be able to use their suite of enforcement powers including issuing fines, requiring operators to take steps to come into compliance, and applying to the courts in the UK for business disruption measures. Ofcom can seek to enforce penalties or other requirements via court processes in the UK and other jurisdictions. For the most serious failures, Ofcom will be able to apply to the courts to block/restrict access to the services from the UK (by requiring third parties to withdraw their access and ancillary services).

At one time the bill was going to require websites to register and make regular reports to what Denise called a "governmental censorship agency".
This was going to be the bill that would make Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. responsible for user supplied content.

If Dreamwidth felt it could ignore it I don't see why the big less nice players would pay any more attention.

Re: Do Google still say "Don't be evil" ?

[andrewducker]

Dreamwidth do not have a UK office, and are not likely to open one. Their owners don't live in the UK, and they don't employ any UK citizens. So the reach of UK courts is likely to fall short of them.

The worst they could do would be to block them from the UK. Which would be annoying, as I'd have to use a VPN.

Facebook, on the other hand, employs people in the UK, has a UK arm, etc. They'd be very easy for the UK courts to affect.