Tag: united kingdom

UK Report Says Online Censorship Law Doesn’t Go Far Enough

The UK Parliament’s Science, Innovation and Technology Committee has spoken. And what it wants, in no uncertain terms, is an internet where opinions are shrink-wrapped, inspected, and potentially vaporized for being slightly off-script.

Its latest report, published with all the gravitas of a white paper on national survival, is framed as a response to the “Southport unrest” of 2024; a kerfuffle of confused narratives and bottle-throwing that apparently requires rethinking the entire relationship between the state, the internet, and the British people’s right to say something online.

We obtained a copy of the report of you here.

The Committee’s proposal is a legal downgrading of content they don’t like, and mass surveillance of users.

But don’t worry, it’s all in the name of “public safety” and “combating misinformation.” Which is the modern policy equivalent of “just trust us.”

Despite the ink barely being dry on the Online Safety Act, a law so sprawling and riddled with ambiguity it makes War and Peace look like a pamphlet, the Committee wastes no time throwing it under the bus.

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How The British Government Silenced the “Free” Press, Made Truth Illegal

There are cover-ups, and then there’s whatever the British Government just pulled.

Imagine torching £7 ($9.4) billion of public money, risking 100,000 lives, creating an immigration scandal, and then, when the inevitable outrage starts to bubble, slapping a gag order on the entire country and pretending it never happened.

This is banana-republic behavior with better tailoring.

Because for nearly two years, a superinjunction, the kind usually deployed when a Premier League footballer’s pants have wandered off again, was used to silence journalists and the free press, gag Parliament, and stop the public from learning that the Ministry of Defence had done something catastrophically inept.

It began in August 2023 when journalist David Williams discovered that the Ministry of Defence had managed to leak the identities of 18,800 Afghans who had worked with British forces; drivers, and translators. Their families included, we’re talking about 100,000 people now, allegedly, squarely in the Taliban’s crosshairs. All because some bright spark couldn’t handle a spreadsheet.

Someone in Whitehall realized that explaining to the public how a government that wants to introduce digital IDs, biometric databases, and centralized health records, can’t even keep the data of war-zone informants safe might, just might, be a tough sell.

Now, in a functioning democracy, this is the point where the Government admits the error, apologizes profusely, and gets on with fixing the mess. But that’s not what happened.

Instead, the Conservative Government went nuclear. It reached for a superinjunction. A legal instrument so secretive, that you can’t even mention that it exists. It’s the Voldemort of British law: he who must not be named, and also must not be reported on, discussed in Parliament, or even acknowledged in polite company.

Ever since the data hit the fan, ministers, hidden behind a wall of censorship so thick it could double as a North Korean border post, have been quietly orchestrating one of the largest peacetime migration missions in British history.

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UK Data Use and Access Act – Digital Wallets Coming

The Data (Use and Access) Act, also known as the DUA Bill, has provided the UK government with the ability to roll out a series of programs that will eventually force citizens to participate in a digital ID program. The law was enacted with the premise of reinforcing security and providing convenience for businesses and individuals, with the true goal of surrendering all data and control to government authorities.

The UK government has eased the public into the concept by launching digital verification services. Phase one enabled citizens to voluntarily create a digital identity to streamline the right to work and the right to rent procedures and provide access to age-restricted products. Phase two will create a foundation for Digital Verification Services (DVS) and government oversight of digital identities. Approved services will receive a trust mark to note that they have been verified by the government. The program is currently in a pilot phase but the government plans to move full speed ahead by the end of the year.

“This independent certification process has given lots of organisations across the UK economy the confidence to start accepting digital identity. In some parts of the economy though government or businesses need extra assurance, beyond the requirements in the trust framework, before a digital identity can be used,” the government noted, later adding, “We estimate that hundreds of thousands of right to work, right to rent and disclosure and barring checks each month are now taking place using digital identity services providers; but that’s just the small step towards a much bigger transformation we want to enable through our work.”

In two years, after people are accustomed to creating and using their digital identity, the government plans to launch a digital wallet (GOV.UK Wallet) that will store citizens’ official government-issued documents. The Home Affairs Committee launched an inquiry into the risks associated with this digital ID, with industries and watchdog services raising a red flag over concerns regarding government overreach and surveillance. Critics are also concerned about the true security measures a centralized database could offer as data breaches and unauthorized access are possible. The initial attempt to create GOV.UK failed and cost the government £200 million and there is no currently publicly disclosed total cost of the plans to create a new version.

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Netflix And Chill: Farage’s DOGE Uncovers INSANE Government Funded Perks For Illegal Aliens

A British version of DOGE instituted in areas where Nigel Farage’s Reform won seats in the last round of elections has found that local government is spending hundreds of thousands in taxpayer money on unnecessary perks for illegal immigrants, including subscriptions to Netflix.

Not content with putting them up in luxury hotels and giving them loaded debit cards, at least ten local councils are providing illegal aliens with subscriptions to streaming services such as Netflix and Disney +, as well as spending close to £120,000 on fast food such as Dominoes Pizza and McDonalds.

The local governments have also handed out gift cards for electrical stores Currys and Argos, presumably so the illegals can get a TV to watch their Netflix, and even paid for outings, including trips to safari parks, the circus, and mini golf.

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Digital ID: Bluesky to Launch Age Checks in UK

Bluesky is preparing to introduce age checks for users in the UK, following obligations under the country’s controversial censorship law, the Online Safety Act.

The platform revealed that individuals will have several options to verify their age, such as facial scanning, ID upload, or payment card entry.

The system will operate through Kid Web Services (KWS), a tool developed by Epic Games to help online platforms manage age verification and implement parental controls.

Users who opt out of verification, or who are under 18, won’t be excluded entirely but will encounter stricter limitations. Access to adult-oriented material will be restricted, and features like direct messaging will be disabled.

Passed in 2023, the Online Safety Act has triggered alarm among digital rights advocates, who argue that the legislation could severely curtail free speech and privacy by linking everyone’s online comments to their real-world ID.

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‘Pink Floyd’ Frontman Roger Waters Could Face Up To 14 Years In Prison For Supporting Pro-Palestine Group Dubbed “Terrorist Organization” By UK Parliament

The Campaign Against Antisemitism is calling for “Pink Floyd” co-founder Roger Waters to be imprisoned after he posted a message earlier this month supporting the group Palestine Action, which was recently banned in the UK under anti-terrorism laws.

In Waters’ video, he claimed Palestine Action is a “nonviolent” and “great organization” comprised of people who are “absolutely not terrorists in any way.”

Waters, who is from Cambridge, England, showed a sign he made that read, “Parliament has been corrupted by agents of a genocidal foreign power. Stand up and be counted. It’s now!”

“This is the ‘I am Spartacus’ moment,” he wrote on social media, saying in the video, “I declare my independence from the government of the UK, who’ve just designated Palestine Action a terrorist, proscribed terrorist organization.”

The Campaign Against Antisemitism responded by calling for Waters to be jailed, writing, “Anyone expressing support for it contrary to section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 commits a criminal offence. We stand ready to privately prosecute offenders in instances where an offence has been made out and the authorities fail to act.”

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Tower of Babel: Nearly Two Million Non-Native English Speaking Students in England Schools

A report has found that almost two million students do not speak English as their native language in England as a result of the mass migration agenda imposed upon the country by the Westminster establishment.

Freedom of Information requests from the Daily Mail have revealed that in 2,039 schools in England, English is not the first language for the majority of students.

In total, the report found that 1.8 million students are non-native English speakers, or around one in five pupils in the country.

Zeroing in, at the Kobi Nazrul primary school in the Tower Hamlets borough of London, 92 per cent of students speak Bengali as their native tongue, while none were recorded as speaking English at home as their first language.

Another example highlighted was the Pentland Infant Kirklees school in Dewsbury, where the vast majority of students had an Indian language as their mother tongue, with 36 per cent speaking Gujarati and 45 per cent speaking Panjabi.

The number of students without English as their first language has increased significantly over the past decade, during which successive governments have undertaken record levels of immigration.

According to the report, there are now 700,000 more non-native English speaking students compared to ten years ago.

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Explained: The UK’s Potentially Terrifying Criminal Justice “Reforms”

Plans to reform the UK’s criminal justice system – including the scrapping of jury trials for some offences and reduced sentences for those who plead guilty – are all part of larger “reforms” that would empower tyrannical authoritarianism.

Former senior judge and current Investigatory Powers Commissioner Brian Leveson made the news this week with the publication of his report recommending, among other things, “jury-free” trials, in order to “prevent the collapse of the criminal justice system”.

Note the language, by the way. “Jury-free“, not “jury-less“, as if juries are a food additive we should avoid, rather than a right guaranteed in British law for over 800 years.

This is not new. “Replacing”, “updating” or otherwise “reforming” Jury trials has been on the worldwide agenda for years now.

Within weeks of “Covid” starting, Scotland moved to suspend jury trials entirely (a move so unpopular they reversed it within 24 hours). At the same time, noted lawyers wrote opinion pieces for the Guardian headlined:

“Coronavirus has stopped trials by jury, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing”

Also in the Guardian, Simon Jenkins wrote that Covid had presented an “opportunity” to get rid of the old-fashioned jury trial system. He repeated the idea in another column a couple of months ago.

Less than a year later, Scotland wanted to waive jury trials again, this time in rape cases, to “protect the victim”. They scrapped that plan, too.

Not long after that, in the US, the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict caused the predictable pundits to rant and rave about the “broken” jury system.

In January 2023, the French government announced it would be scrapping jury trials for rape cases and all crimes with a maximum sentence of 15-20 years, citing a need to clear the backlog and make the court system more efficient.

Academic papers are even discussing the possibility of replacing jurors with ChatGPT-like artificial intelligences. A possibility to horrendous to contemplate.

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UK police arrest scores of supporters of newly banned Palestinian protest group

British police arrested scores of supporters on Saturday of a pro-Palestinian protest group that was banned this month under anti-terrorism legislation.

Police said they had arrested at least 41 people in London and 16 others in Manchester for showing support for the group Palestine Action. Campaign group Defend our Juries said 86 people had been arrested across the UK, with other protests held in Wales and Northern Ireland.

British lawmakers proscribed the group under anti-terrorism legislation earlier this month after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.

“Officers have made 41 arrests for showing support for a proscribed organisation. One person has been arrested for common assault,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement on social media about the demonstration.

After a similar protest in London last week, police arrested 29 people.

Before Saturday’s arrests in London, close to 50 protesters had gathered with placards saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” near a statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela outside the British parliament.

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British Dad Arrested While Trying to Save Daughter from Rape Gangs Says Police Faked Records to Smear Him

A British father alleged in an interview on Friday that local Rotherdam police created fake arrest reports to derail an investigation into authorities repeatedly arresting him for attempting to rescue his daughter from a child rape den.

The now-infamous case of a Rotherham father arrested for trying to protect his daughter from child rapists took a new turn this week as the father, identified only as “Jack” in the interview, claimed that the force falsified records of his arrests, using inaccurate information and accusing him of being intoxicated during his rescue attempts.

British broadcaster GB News reports that years after the 2005 rapes of the daughter and arrests of the father, when the so-called grooming gang scandal became public knowledge, the unnamed man filed an official complaint about how his family had been treated. South Yorkshire Police are said to have denied his claim and attempted to discredit the story by issuing a custody sheet showing that the arrests actually took place in a different part of the town, and because the man was drunk.

The father insists that the document features key errors, including the man’s address being given as a home he did not move into until five years later. The father told GB News he believes police produced the document to cover up what they had done to his family. The broadcaster also reported it has viewed documentary evidence proving he had no connection to that address in 2005.

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