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by kubb 102 days ago
> I can't imagine

That's admirably honest, but the contents of your mind don't necessarily correspond to the world outside it.

1 comments

How so?

Though not quite the EU anymore, the UK arrests people based only on speech in a social media post. Why should I expect they would be interested in building a truly private, zero knowledge age verification system?

Maybe for a more direct example I could point to the discussions related to the EU wanting direct access to all private messages, pushing Signal to leave the EU if that were to pass?

I think they arrested (or just fined?) someone for calling to burn down a hotel with migrants. For you this is an oppressive dictatorship, but it doesn’t match reality.

It also has no bearing on willingness to implement proof of age without additional disclosure.

But yeah not EU, one country in Europe is unlike another, etc.

I don't know the specific case you're referring to, though that's far from the only fine or arrest in the UK related to social media posts.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/police-make-30-arr...

This is paywalled. What were the posts?
They are arguably over policing because of vague laws and proactive enforcement. Most cases don’t lead to convictions. But all cases I’ve ever seen were for something bad like calling for violence, making fun of someone’s death. For free speech absolutists this is unacceptable, but it’s not arbitrary tyranny.