If you haven't heard, the UK government just enacted a law that requires users within the UK to surrender their privacy, anonymity, and security by submitting their ID to access any website, product, or service that may contain "Mature" content. It's alleged to have been put in place to protect children...
As if parental controls don't exist, and that it's not the responsibility of parents to parent, to monitor and restrict their child's access to the internet.
Of course, this is bollocks, it's a Trojan Horse, it's the government putting in a tool that strips us, the user, of privacy and anonymity, so they can police what we see, say, and do.
Parts of this law actually include clauses that, in part, restrict what you can say online about certain political issues, like immigration...
And if you violate these laws, and have submitted ID, they know who you are, where you live, and can, and will arrest you for it...
Now, this can entirely be subverted with a VPN, which a Member of Parliament has already suggested they review the legality of, because if they undermine the government's enforcement of this new law, they will ban VPNs.
Now, some of you may be thinking that this is an exaggeration, and this law is just to protect kids from Porn...
It's not, that's a genuine cover-up, a shield they're using to turn Britain into a surveillance state, where you cannot criticise the government, and they can restrict or censor what you see.
Good proof for this is that, when pressed on the issue and critique of the law, a Member of Parliament said "Anyone against this law allies themselves with Pedophiles", completely dodging the issue, and shifting focus, and framing those who oppose as predators.
If you disagree with the government, they will vilify you and/or arrest you.
W. T. F!
This is Orwellian, to say the least, violating our basic rights, and threatens many people, myself included.
Small websites and businesses can't afford to comply, and if they don't, they can be forced to pay fines in the 10s of Millions of £'s. Small creators who create NSFW content face potential persecution if their private data is leaked because one of these 3rd party ID verification companies gets hacked, and users like me could face Prison, because of the nature of the content I make.
Because any depiction of an underage character in the UK in a sexual context is considered Child Porn.
(Though upon reading, it seems to be sentenced less harshly, one man in possession of, at the time, legally acquired Mangas that include underage girls was sentenced to 9 months, but it doesn't say if he was entered in the sex offenders database)
Point is, if I have to connect my ID to the AmorousArtist, I risk losing everything, and that's just my personal problem with the Act; others will/have lost their careers and user base, some have been scammed by false verification companies and had their data end up on Google Images.
It's genuinely scary, and it's putting everyone at risk; we could be hacked, scammed, doxxed, and/or imprisoned, and it's so vague and muddy, the line in the sand was already and squiggly and nebulous, but now this tidal wave has come through and that line is gone, the Bitish internet in a Mine Field, one that's gonna shrink as sits and servises pull out and don't offer acces anymore instead of complying, and shrink again as british hosted sites shutdown becasue they cannot afford the risk as the ecconomy takes a hit...
Even the .gov petition got shot down by Parliament, they're digging in their heels, they're saints and saviours, and how dare we challenge them, they're right, and we're wrong, think of the children!!!
We can only hope the outcry, the backlash, and the lawsuits force them to repeal or at least suspend the act. Apple, WhatsApp, and others are already suing, and Wikipedia is threatening to restrict or revoke UK users' access, rather than comply.
We can fight this, but it is an uphill battle, and there will be casualties and collateral damage along the way, both online and offline, as we're beginning to see.
For me, well, I haven't been active in a while, struggling with ADHD, while the meds have started working, and I have produced at least one amazing new artwork I will share soon, though via a link because now Humans on Inkbunny sadly, I've also been working through family stuff, and I've been mentally drained.
I'm still full of ideas and trying harder than ever to work on them, but until the current family issues are resolved and I become comfortable using a VPN, content will still be slow.
I also won't be able to take any donations or do any comms of any kind for a while.
If you want to help, and you're within the UK, just complain, voice your concerns in a civil, non-threatening way, since if you do seem threatening, even jokingly, you can be punished...
If you're outside the UK, you show support by also complaining, but just online, so others can see and hear what's going on, and maybe generate some external/international pressure to repeal the law.
I hope this issue is resolved in favour of human rights, free speech, privacy, and security, until then, I'm just gonna be more careful.
As always, now more than ever before...
Stay Safe. Have Fun. Stay Sexy!
