"Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has urged a review of the 15-month jail term handed to a wealthy recruitment boss who hurled death threats and racist abuse at cabin crew. Salman Iftikhar, 37, was flying first class from London Heathrow to Lahore when he told Virgin Atlantic stewardess Angie Walsh she would be dragged from her hotel room, gang raped and set alight. Philp has written to Attorney General Lord Hermer, arguing the sentence was “unduly lenient”, urging him to consider referring the case to the Court of Appeal for an increase."
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
Why it takes 25 years to improve a road up north. Three minutes of a very gaunt-looking Dominic Cummings. I hope he is healthier than he appears. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wtxsi2VVF-c
It is a disgrace that neither the A1 nor the A66 have been fully dualled when they are the main routes to Scotland for so many.
The project to do so should have been started in about 1960.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
Because men seeing naked women (or men according to your predilection) is one of the strongest imperatives in all of human history. I remember sneaking magazines out my dad's stash as a young lad if I thought I could get them back before he'd notice. There's a whole galaxy of porn websites out there that have no ID checks because they have no UK presence.
But there's plenty of borderline not that fussed users. They'll stop. Also it's nonsense that ALL teenage boys are superhorny tech literates who will be completely unmoved by this change. All in all it will lead to a significant drop in this activity. You can take that to the wa ... to the bank.
I believe the phrase is "Barclays".
But yes, one of the interesting/depressing things about our current times is that grey areas aren't allowed. Either something works completely, or it's a failure. We saw the same with anti-Covid measures.
And who knows? If marginally-horny boys can be distracted from internet porn, they might discover real girls, and decide it is worth trying to be attractive to them.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
Because men seeing naked women (or men according to your predilection) is one of the strongest imperatives in all of human history.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
When they quietly go to 20 overs of 6 balls each (next year?) and it becomes another franchise T20.
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
Why do Tories hate the Hundred? I am a non Tory and I am loving it. The Phoenix game the other night was edge of the seat exciting. As was the Fire game at the weekend.
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
All right, I'll bite. What's wrong with it - it's basically a T20 minus 20 balls? It's ostensibly the same?
You could make it 20 overs of 5 balls per over I suppose,.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
Because men seeing naked women (or men according to your predilection) is one of the strongest imperatives in all of human history. I remember sneaking magazines out my dad's stash as a young lad if I thought I could get them back before he'd notice. There's a whole galaxy of porn websites out there that have no ID checks because they have no UK presence.
But there's plenty of borderline not that fussed users. They'll stop. Also it's nonsense that ALL teenage boys are superhorny tech literates who will be completely unmoved by this change. All in all it will lead to a significant drop in this activity. You can take that to the wa ... to the bank.
I believe the phrase is "Barclays".
But yes, one of the interesting/depressing things about our current times is that grey areas aren't allowed. Either something works completely, or it's a failure. We saw the same with anti-Covid measures.
And who knows? If marginally-horny boys can be distracted from internet porn, they might discover real girls, and decide it is worth trying to be attractive to them.
Yes, I don't get the mindset.
Of course regulating tech is hard because of tech. But tech can work in gamekeeper mode as well as poacher.
And in any case aren't most of the big issues we have hard to resolve?
Why it takes 25 years to improve a road up north. Three minutes of a very gaunt-looking Dominic Cummings. I hope he is healthier than he appears. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wtxsi2VVF-c
It is a disgrace that neither the A1 nor the A66 have been fully dualled when they are the main routes to Scotland for so many.
The project to do so should have been started in about 1960.
If we go back to Liz Truss's successful campaign for the leadership, it was notable that at each hustings event, she promised local party members that she would widen their local A-road.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
Why do Tories hate the Hundred? I am a non Tory and I am loving it. The Phoenix game the other night was edge of the seat exciting.
I don't know if I count as a Tory anymore, I am severely disillusioned. Maybe the fact that I have watched and enjoyed quite a number of Hundred games is indicative of that. But what was the chicken and what was the egg? Hmmm.....
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
Why do Tories hate the Hundred? I am a non Tory and I am loving it. The Phoenix game the other night was edge of the seat exciting. As was the Fire game at the weekend.
I’d hate it less if there was option to have the scores presented in the customary fashion.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
People keep just stating this. I think it's become groupthink on here. Plus, it's likely not the end of the road if it's true (which I'm not convinced it is). There'll be iterations of the barriers.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
All well and good but what else have they got? Until a few more years have passed everything will be easy to frame in the narrative of ‘look what the Tories did in 2019-2024’.
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
Why do Tories hate the Hundred? I am a non Tory and I am loving it. The Phoenix game the other night was edge of the seat exciting.
I don't know if I count as a Tory anymore, I am severely disillusioned. Maybe the fact that I have watched and enjoyed quite a number of Hundred games is indicative of that. But what was the chicken and what was the egg? Hmmm.....
I was put off last year when the BBC commentary team did not know why cow corner, was called cow corner. It was then I knew that this was not the cricket for me.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
People keep just stating this. I think it's become groupthink on here. Plus, it's likely not the end of the road if it's true (which I'm not convinced it is). There'll be iterations of the barriers.
Anyone who’s ever known teenage boys, knows for certain that it’s true!
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
All right, I'll bite. What's wrong with it - it's basically a T20 minus 20 balls? It's ostensibly the same?
You could make it 20 overs of 5 balls per over I suppose,.
Essentially it’s just cricket, but things like the way they present the scores etc on the screen makes existing cricket fans want to scratch their eyes out. It’s better now they’ve lost some of the awful ZX spectrum graphics, but it’s still persisting in the matchup of batter vs bowler.
It was designed for non cricket fans, to tempt them in. I get that. But there is a compromise out there in the modern age for how the score is displayed.
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
Why do Tories hate the Hundred? I am a non Tory and I am loving it. The Phoenix game the other night was edge of the seat exciting.
I don't know if I count as a Tory anymore, I am severely disillusioned. Maybe the fact that I have watched and enjoyed quite a number of Hundred games is indicative of that. But what was the chicken and what was the egg? Hmmm.....
I was put off last year when the BBC commentary team did not know why cow corner, was called cow corner. It was then I knew that this was not the cricket for me.
I can't believe they didn't know that. But the faux ignorance of some commentators is genuinely annoying and deeply patronising I agree.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
All well and good but what else have they got? Until a few more years have passed everything will be easy to frame in the narrative of ‘look what the Tories did in 2019-2024’.
A New Plan. They can't deny the past - that is being brutally demonstrated to them this week. They can't assume people are stupid as they are doing - even the ones who *are* stupid remember the failures of Stop the Boats.
I really do blame Kemi. There is a sneering arrogance about her leadership - she is faultless and flawless and how dare you say anything else? Worse, some of her shadow team openly look like they are going through the motions because they obviously are.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
To be fair to the Conservatives, pretty much anything posted on X is going to get a load of replies saying how awful they are. Because there are enough people on X with that attitude, and the cost of a snarky reply is minimal.
Any public forum without a very strong editorial hand tends to be overrun by loud nutters, and I don't think anyone has ever solved that problem, ever.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
People keep just stating this. I think it's become groupthink on here. Plus, it's likely not the end of the road if it's true (which I'm not convinced it is). There'll be iterations of the barriers.
Anyone who’s ever known teenage boys, knows for certain that it’s true!
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
Why do Tories hate the Hundred? I am a non Tory and I am loving it. The Phoenix game the other night was edge of the seat exciting.
I don't know if I count as a Tory anymore, I am severely disillusioned. Maybe the fact that I have watched and enjoyed quite a number of Hundred games is indicative of that. But what was the chicken and what was the egg? Hmmm.....
I was put off last year when the BBC commentary team did not know why cow corner, was called cow corner. It was then I knew that this was not the cricket for me.
I can't believe they didn't know that. But the faux ignorance of some commentators is genuinely annoying and deeply patronising I agree.
Are we sure this isn’t an example of the presenter ‘not knowing’ in order to explain to the public? A bit like how judges used to question who celebrities for, to get it on the record?
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
What is working is that every government announcement is met with an immediate counterattack from the Tories or Reform on BBC, Sky etc. The counterattack precedes any justification of the policy. Sometimes only the counterattack gets an airing.
I suspect this was also true of the Conservative Party under Sunak but not under Johnson, May and Cameron. I suspect Farage as PM will get an equally easy ride, probably even easier.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
People keep just stating this. I think it's become groupthink on here. Plus, it's likely not the end of the road if it's true (which I'm not convinced it is). There'll be iterations of the barriers.
No it's much more likely that Reform win in 2029 and repeal it as part of a manifesto pledge. This kind of shite is already influencing decision makers for tech investments in the UK and it's hurting the economy. You're an old geezer, you fundamentally don't understand technology and the rapid pace of evolution as well as how technically literate the kids are, they've literally all grown up with iPhones and iPads in their hands. They've been circumventing parental locks for years to play GTA and COD. A government block is literally nothing for these kids to get around and all while the law does basically nothing to stop kids getting access to adult material and media, old buffers like you who may want to access websites that have some kind of adult content on them will have to hand over ID or do facial scans.
The law abiding citizen is being targeted while those who this is aimed at are literally circumventing it with VPNs or browsing websites that don't have age restrictions because they are unknown to the government and run out of a country where they don't care about complying to UK law.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
All well and good but what else have they got? Until a few more years have passed everything will be easy to frame in the narrative of ‘look what the Tories did in 2019-2024’.
It's what always happens when a party which has been in Government for an extended period goes into Opposition.
Indeed, the Conservatives in Government were still trying to play the "Winter of Discontent" card against Blair in the 1990s when most people under 30 had no clue what it meant (though it wasn't for them of course).
The Conservatives governed for 13 years (1951-64), 18 Years (1979-97) and 14 years (2010-24). In the first two instances, they lost both the election which took them into Opposition and the following election. Indeed, until 2024, the defeats of 1966 and 2001 were two of the biggest since 1945 for the Tories.
Labour governed for 13 years (1997-2010) and lost in 2015.
On that basis, the prospects for Labour's re-election in 2028/29 are actually quite good but the current mood suggests otherwise.
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
Why do Tories hate the Hundred? I am a non Tory and I am loving it. The Phoenix game the other night was edge of the seat exciting.
I don't know if I count as a Tory anymore, I am severely disillusioned. Maybe the fact that I have watched and enjoyed quite a number of Hundred games is indicative of that. But what was the chicken and what was the egg? Hmmm.....
I was put off last year when the BBC commentary team did not know why cow corner, was called cow corner. It was then I knew that this was not the cricket for me.
I can't believe they didn't know that. But the faux ignorance of some commentators is genuinely annoying and deeply patronising I agree.
Are we sure this isn’t an example of the presenter ‘not knowing’ in order to explain to the public? A bit like how judges used to question who celebrities for, to get it on the record?
I did think this, but after a discussion among the three who were on at the time, there came no answer.
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
Why do Tories hate the Hundred? I am a non Tory and I am loving it. The Phoenix game the other night was edge of the seat exciting.
I don't know if I count as a Tory anymore, I am severely disillusioned. Maybe the fact that I have watched and enjoyed quite a number of Hundred games is indicative of that. But what was the chicken and what was the egg? Hmmm.....
I was put off last year when the BBC commentary team did not know why cow corner, was called cow corner. It was then I knew that this was not the cricket for me.
I can't believe they didn't know that. But the faux ignorance of some commentators is genuinely annoying and deeply patronising I agree.
Are we sure this isn’t an example of the presenter ‘not knowing’ in order to explain to the public? A bit like how judges used to question who celebrities for, to get it on the record?
That's what I assume. As I say it is both patronising and irritating and I can understand why @ManOfGwent found it annoying.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
All well and good but what else have they got? Until a few more years have passed everything will be easy to frame in the narrative of ‘look what the Tories did in 2019-2024’.
A New Plan. They can't deny the past - that is being brutally demonstrated to them this week. They can't assume people are stupid as they are doing - even the ones who *are* stupid remember the failures of Stop the Boats.
I really do blame Kemi. There is a sneering arrogance about her leadership - she is faultless and flawless and how dare you say anything else? Worse, some of her shadow team openly look like they are going through the motions because they obviously are.
In essence they need the spirit of Cameron back. Make the case for conservatism (sound money, good governance,* small state) etc. Start to address the real concerns people have about immigration by explaining what it good and what is bad, and actually stop some of the worst abuses. Close these the HE colleges that are just excuses to get a student visa to then work in uncles curry house. Start building homes. Pledge to build HS2 properly to Scotland and all parts North.
But still people won’t listen for a good few years.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
All well and good but what else have they got? Until a few more years have passed everything will be easy to frame in the narrative of ‘look what the Tories did in 2019-2024’.
Its about marginal increases, they arent going to get reactions on socials like a party on 40%, nobody is, so they are trying to inch up in polling and firm up the waverers/vote strikers. And probably better to be in the maelstrom than completely invisible. When 25% probably sees you seal the opposition gig and 30% gets you largest party convincing just a few makes a difference. Judging anything by the pre 2024 standards is not the way to view 2029 imo
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
All well and good but what else have they got? Until a few more years have passed everything will be easy to frame in the narrative of ‘look what the Tories did in 2019-2024’.
It's what always happens when a party which has been in Government for an extended period goes into Opposition.
Indeed, the Conservatives in Government were still trying to play the "Winter of Discontent" card against Blair in the 1990s when most people under 30 had no clue what it meant (though it wasn't for them of course).
The Conservatives governed for 13 years (1951-64), 18 Years (1979-97) and 14 years (2010-24). In the first two instances, they lost both the election which took them into Opposition and the following election. Indeed, until 2024, the defeats of 1966 and 2001 were two of the biggest since 1945 for the Tories.
Labour governed for 13 years (1997-2010) and lost in 2015.
On that basis, the prospects for Labour's re-election in 2028/29 are actually quite good but the current mood suggests otherwise.
I mean I literally just asked grok how to install a VPN on an iPhone and it gave me a step by step guide. Kids are being taught by schools how to use AI prompting why wouldn't they ask the AI a simple how to on getting around the OSA?
You oldies are so out of touch it's funny. The government is just as bad but they're in charge of policy which isn't funny.
Bugger all people at Cardiff for the Hundred. They seem to really struggle to get crowds there.
At what point does someone just look at the elephant in the room, acknowledge The Hundred is shit, and we can all move on and never have to worry about such horror again.
Why do Tories hate the Hundred? I am a non Tory and I am loving it. The Phoenix game the other night was edge of the seat exciting.
I don't know if I count as a Tory anymore, I am severely disillusioned. Maybe the fact that I have watched and enjoyed quite a number of Hundred games is indicative of that. But what was the chicken and what was the egg? Hmmm.....
I was put off last year when the BBC commentary team did not know why cow corner, was called cow corner. It was then I knew that this was not the cricket for me.
I can't believe they didn't know that. But the faux ignorance of some commentators is genuinely annoying and deeply patronising I agree.
Are we sure this isn’t an example of the presenter ‘not knowing’ in order to explain to the public? A bit like how judges used to question who celebrities for, to get it on the record?
That's what I assume. As I say it is both patronising and irritating and I can understand why @ManOfGwent found it annoying.
I heard a similarly banal explanation of what a knuckle ball was a couple of nights ago. The bowler giving expert commentary, explained he used to use 2 fingers but now used three which, for some reason, had the female commentator in paroxysms of laughter. Can't imagine what she was thinking about.
They were ahead of them in the Jun 16 MiC poll 22 to 21 and were equal in the Freshwater poll in June, so its pretty rare since the LE They led Labour in 16 polls between GE 24 and LE 25
I mean I literally just asked grok how to install a VPN on an iPhone and it gave me a step by step guide. Kids are being taught by schools how to use AI prompting why wouldn't they ask the AI a simple how to on getting around the OSA?
You oldies are so out of touch it's funny. The government is just as bad but they're in charge of policy which isn't funny.
I am an oldy and I can say with authority, (excluding our 3 year granddaughter), all our other grandchildren 12, 14 , 16 and 22 are fully tec savvy and could certainly access and use VPN
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
To be fair to the Conservatives, pretty much anything posted on X is going to get a load of replies saying how awful they are. Because there are enough people on X with that attitude, and the cost of a snarky reply is minimal.
Any public forum without a very strong editorial hand tends to be overrun by loud nutters, and I don't think anyone has ever solved that problem, ever.
Ferrari F1 team made that mistake yesterday, they posted a photo of a couple of “celebs” enjoying their hospitality, with the caption “Who should we get in the garage next?”
I mean I literally just asked grok how to install a VPN on an iPhone and it gave me a step by step guide. Kids are being taught by schools how to use AI prompting why wouldn't they ask the AI a simple how to on getting around the OSA?
You oldies are so out of touch it's funny. The government is just as bad but they're in charge of policy which isn't funny.
The slightly trickier challenge with an iPhone is how to install a VPN without requiring the ‘admin’ password set by parental controls.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
All well and good but what else have they got? Until a few more years have passed everything will be easy to frame in the narrative of ‘look what the Tories did in 2019-2024’.
It's what always happens when a party which has been in Government for an extended period goes into Opposition.
Indeed, the Conservatives in Government were still trying to play the "Winter of Discontent" card against Blair in the 1990s when most people under 30 had no clue what it meant (though it wasn't for them of course).
The Conservatives governed for 13 years (1951-64), 18 Years (1979-97) and 14 years (2010-24). In the first two instances, they lost both the election which took them into Opposition and the following election. Indeed, until 2024, the defeats of 1966 and 2001 were two of the biggest since 1945 for the Tories.
Labour governed for 13 years (1997-2010) and lost in 2015.
On that basis, the prospects for Labour's re-election in 2028/29 are actually quite good but the current mood suggests otherwise.
Long way to go though, isn’t there?
Yes of course but plenty on here seem to think a) Reform have won the election and Farage will be Prime Minister and b) Labour will be reduced to a level of MPs they've not had since the 1930s.
Neither assumption is valid at this time and may not even be valid in 12 months let alone 36.
The glorious unpredictability of politics means almost anything could happen.
Perhaps Carla Denyer as LOTO staring across the dispatch box at Prime Minister Ed Davey - well, it's a thought....
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If the politicians are managing to install VPNs, I back any teenager to do it.
More In Common had the Conservatives in front of Labour as far back as the middle of June !!
It's a better poll for the Conservatives, no doubt, but it could be an outlier.
Better end of the establshed range since GE with the pollster. Random fluctuation means a 22 should come up now and again if nothing fundamental moves (all polls with MiC since LE have been 18 to 22 with just 1x18 and 2x22) . A 23 or above would be a much more 'interesting' output, same as a 20 plus with YG, Opinium or FoN (if not a one off freak result). Or, conversely, sub 16 with the others or sub 18 MiC
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The idea that this is some fresh killer point when pooped out by a Yoon for the millionth time is also pretty hot in the self delusion stakes.
And yet you maintain this wilful self deception over the decades. And on it goes
never saw anyone on here mention it at all, all comes from unionists trying to assuage their guilt. Have a look in the mirror.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
All well and good but what else have they got? Until a few more years have passed everything will be easy to frame in the narrative of ‘look what the Tories did in 2019-2024’.
It's what always happens when a party which has been in Government for an extended period goes into Opposition.
Indeed, the Conservatives in Government were still trying to play the "Winter of Discontent" card against Blair in the 1990s when most people under 30 had no clue what it meant (though it wasn't for them of course).
The Conservatives governed for 13 years (1951-64), 18 Years (1979-97) and 14 years (2010-24). In the first two instances, they lost both the election which took them into Opposition and the following election. Indeed, until 2024, the defeats of 1966 and 2001 were two of the biggest since 1945 for the Tories.
Labour governed for 13 years (1997-2010) and lost in 2015.
On that basis, the prospects for Labour's re-election in 2028/29 are actually quite good but the current mood suggests otherwise.
Long way to go though, isn’t there?
Yes of course but plenty on here seem to think a) Reform have won the election and Farage will be Prime Minister and b) Labour will be reduced to a level of MPs they've not had since the 1930s.
Neither assumption is valid at this time and may not even be valid in 12 months let alone 36.
The glorious unpredictability of politics means almost anything could happen.
Perhaps Carla Denyer as LOTO staring across the dispatch box at Prime Minister Ed Davey - well, it's a thought....
The idea beloved of some Nats, that the Scots weren’t really eager participants in the British Empire, is one of the greatest triumphs of self-delusion in all modern politics
The British Empire was often Global Scotland.
Keep kidding yourself, the money went to London , the Scots as like the army were the workhorses to make England rich.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
All well and good but what else have they got? Until a few more years have passed everything will be easy to frame in the narrative of ‘look what the Tories did in 2019-2024’.
It's what always happens when a party which has been in Government for an extended period goes into Opposition.
Indeed, the Conservatives in Government were still trying to play the "Winter of Discontent" card against Blair in the 1990s when most people under 30 had no clue what it meant (though it wasn't for them of course).
The Conservatives governed for 13 years (1951-64), 18 Years (1979-97) and 14 years (2010-24). In the first two instances, they lost both the election which took them into Opposition and the following election. Indeed, until 2024, the defeats of 1966 and 2001 were two of the biggest since 1945 for the Tories.
Labour governed for 13 years (1997-2010) and lost in 2015.
On that basis, the prospects for Labour's re-election in 2028/29 are actually quite good but the current mood suggests otherwise.
Long way to go though, isn’t there?
Yes of course but plenty on here seem to think a) Reform have won the election and Farage will be Prime Minister and b) Labour will be reduced to a level of MPs they've not had since the 1930s.
Neither assumption is valid at this time and may not even be valid in 12 months let alone 36.
The glorious unpredictability of politics means almost anything could happen.
Perhaps Carla Denyer as LOTO staring across the dispatch box at Prime Minister Ed Davey - well, it's a thought....
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
Because men seeing naked women (or men according to your predilection) is one of the strongest imperatives in all of human history. I remember sneaking magazines out my dad's stash as a young lad if I thought I could get them back before he'd notice. There's a whole galaxy of porn websites out there that have no ID checks because they have no UK presence.
Exactly.
And without the Great British Firewall, there is nothing to stop people going for sites outside the U.K.
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
All well and good but what else have they got? Until a few more years have passed everything will be easy to frame in the narrative of ‘look what the Tories did in 2019-2024’.
It's what always happens when a party which has been in Government for an extended period goes into Opposition.
Indeed, the Conservatives in Government were still trying to play the "Winter of Discontent" card against Blair in the 1990s when most people under 30 had no clue what it meant (though it wasn't for them of course).
The Conservatives governed for 13 years (1951-64), 18 Years (1979-97) and 14 years (2010-24). In the first two instances, they lost both the election which took them into Opposition and the following election. Indeed, until 2024, the defeats of 1966 and 2001 were two of the biggest since 1945 for the Tories.
Labour governed for 13 years (1997-2010) and lost in 2015.
On that basis, the prospects for Labour's re-election in 2028/29 are actually quite good but the current mood suggests otherwise.
Long way to go though, isn’t there?
Yes of course but plenty on here seem to think a) Reform have won the election and Farage will be Prime Minister and b) Labour will be reduced to a level of MPs they've not had since the 1930s.
Neither assumption is valid at this time and may not even be valid in 12 months let alone 36.
The glorious unpredictability of politics means almost anything could happen.
Perhaps Carla Denyer as LOTO staring across the dispatch box at Prime Minister Ed Davey - well, it's a thought....
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Parents should be clicking the one button option that comes with basically every ISP / easily available apps to enable content filter on their young childrens devices to stop accidentally surfers. You don't need big brother government for that.
Any horny teenager can bypass those in the way they can bypass OSA.
"Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has urged a review of the 15-month jail term handed to a wealthy recruitment boss who hurled death threats and racist abuse at cabin crew. Salman Iftikhar, 37, was flying first class from London Heathrow to Lahore when he told Virgin Atlantic stewardess Angie Walsh she would be dragged from her hotel room, gang raped and set alight. Philp has written to Attorney General Lord Hermer, arguing the sentence was “unduly lenient”, urging him to consider referring the case to the Court of Appeal for an increase."
Just like Lucy Connolly, such threats should be taken very seriously.
What would be hilarious would be the captain on the flight taking the threat seriously. And the scum bag in question finishing the flight tied up and gagged.
The other day I was musing on the forthcoming robo-apocalypse. While Skynet may well want to exterminate anyone with the tech knowledge to turn it off (perhaps identified by seeing who installs VPNs 😅), it is hard to see why it would bother with off grid subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers in remote places.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
People keep just stating this. I think it's become groupthink on here. Plus, it's likely not the end of the road if it's true (which I'm not convinced it is). There'll be iterations of the barriers.
No it's much more likely that Reform win in 2029 and repeal it as part of a manifesto pledge. This kind of shite is already influencing decision makers for tech investments in the UK and it's hurting the economy. You're an old geezer, you fundamentally don't understand technology and the rapid pace of evolution as well as how technically literate the kids are, they've literally all grown up with iPhones and iPads in their hands. They've been circumventing parental locks for years to play GTA and COD. A government block is literally nothing for these kids to get around and all while the law does basically nothing to stop kids getting access to adult material and media, old buffers like you who may want to access websites that have some kind of adult content on them will have to hand over ID or do facial scans.
The law abiding citizen is being targeted while those who this is aimed at are literally circumventing it with VPNs or browsing websites that don't have age restrictions because they are unknown to the government and run out of a country where they don't care about complying to UK law.
Well you're correct on 'old geezer' - I'll take and roll with that - and you may be correct about Reform winning, hope not but it is mainly hope, however on the main underlying point, no, I disagree. Regulating the internet much better than now is not something that's inherently impossible simply because tech is fastmoving and global. And to turn this back on you, the reason you think that is perhaps because you are too immersed in it. You're kind of venerating tech and underestimating the power of governments, when they get their act together in concert, to impact how it's used.
Was way harder to get vices when I was a teenager...you had to actually make a physical fake ID and have the balls to walk up to a shopkeeper to buy booze and fags. And because of this friction, there was of course absolutely no widespread drinking or smoking because it was too hard to do so.
The other day I was musing on the forthcoming robo-apocalypse. While Skynet may well want to exterminate anyone with the tech knowledge to turn it off (perhaps identified by seeing who installs VPNs 😅), it is hard to see why it would bother with off grid subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers in remote places.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
We don't need more people "foraging" for "wild food" thanks.
There's enough problems with habitat loss without someone picking various rarities because someone on Instagram said they are edible.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If the politicians are managing to install VPNs, I back any teenager to do it.
You truly think "teenagers can use VPNs" means it's futile to try and better regulate the internet?
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If the politicians are managing to install VPNs, I back any teenager to do it.
You truly think "teenagers can use VPNs" means it's futile to try and better regulate the internet?
The downsides of the OSA massively outweigh the benefits. Its a bad piece of legislation. The point Max and I are making is the supposed biggest benefit is a total illusion (or for very young kids can be done via freely available tools without the government being involved) and it comes with loads of negative downsides.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
Rupert Lowe has very quickly welcomed the news McMurdock has been cleared and 'looks forward to working with him, there is much to do'. So I wonder if a formal arrangement may now be forthcoming....... the Restore (not a party) Party Grouping
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If the politicians are managing to install VPNs, I back any teenager to do it.
You truly think "teenagers can use VPNs" means it's futile to try and better regulate the internet?
80% of the problems created by the internet could be solved by blocking Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok.
Would that be a sane thing for the government to try?
I mean I literally just asked grok how to install a VPN on an iPhone and it gave me a step by step guide. Kids are being taught by schools how to use AI prompting why wouldn't they ask the AI a simple how to on getting around the OSA?
You oldies are so out of touch it's funny. The government is just as bad but they're in charge of policy which isn't funny.
We're drifting into the usual silo chanting. I'm not disputing that VPN use can and will be widely used to get around some of these 1st cut OSA checks. What I'm not doing is concluding from this that the whole game is not worth the candle. That seems a very impetuous leap to me.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If the politicians are managing to install VPNs, I back any teenager to do it.
You truly think "teenagers can use VPNs" means it's futile to try and better regulate the internet?
80% of the problems created by the internet could be solved by blocking Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok.
Would that be a sane thing for the government to try?
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If the politicians are managing to install VPNs, I back any teenager to do it.
You truly think "teenagers can use VPNs" means it's futile to try and better regulate the internet?
Yes, make parents take responsibility for their kids. Maybe have a campaign on how dangerous it is to give young children unsupervised access to internet connected devices rather. It's literally pointless because those who want to get around the blocks will find a way and the law abiding citizen suddenly has their government ID, video verifications and details of which websites they have verified with stored somewhere which is an absolutely huge security and potential blackmail risk.
The downsides to the OSA are absolutely huge and the upsides are completely illusory.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
The other day I was musing on the forthcoming robo-apocalypse. While Skynet may well want to exterminate anyone with the tech knowledge to turn it off (perhaps identified by seeing who installs VPNs 😅), it is hard to see why it would bother with off grid subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers in remote places.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
We don't need more people "foraging" for "wild food" thanks.
There's enough problems with habitat loss without someone picking various rarities because someone on Instagram said they are edible.
Wild edibles are generally extensively available. Of course nobody should ever consume anything they cannot 100% identify given the equally extensive lethal wild plants out there
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
One wonders why all those $2trn+ companies happen to be American…
The Tory media team really do need to be sacked. Its been *brutal* all week on X. They put out post after post attacking Labour for things and practically every response calls out that they did the same / they did nothing about it / they had 14 years.
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
They are just insanely dumb. The world has passed them by - @Foxy and @kinabalu - and they literally don't understand it. They open and close their mouths like fish but no sense comes out. Like the Labour MPs who don't understand why welfare spending means more borrowing
And yes, of course I am ALSO an old geezer. But I'm an old geezer obsessed with tech, and I am paid to write about tech, and I am so obsessed with tech I am forbidden from talking about aspects of it on this very site. So I know my way around a VPN, and so forth, and so on
Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi has been charged with three counts of attempted murder after four prison officers were injured during an attack at HMP Frankland, Counter Terrorism Policing North East said.
The other day I was musing on the forthcoming robo-apocalypse. While Skynet may well want to exterminate anyone with the tech knowledge to turn it off (perhaps identified by seeing who installs VPNs 😅), it is hard to see why it would bother with off grid subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers in remote places.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
We don't need more people "foraging" for "wild food" thanks.
There's enough problems with habitat loss without someone picking various rarities because someone on Instagram said they are edible.
Wild edibles are generally extensively available. Of course nobody should ever consume anything they cannot 100% identify given the equally extensive lethal wild plants out there
Lots of things used to be extensively available until they weren't.
It would be difficult to make wild garlic extinct but it would quickly disappear in local woods if enough people picked it.
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
They are just insanely dumb. The world has passed them by - @Foxy and @kinabalu - and they literally don't understand it. They open and close their mouths like fish but no sense comes out. Like the Labour MPs who don't understand why welfare spending means more borrowing
And yes, of course I am ALSO an old geezer. But I'm an old geezer obsessed with tech, and I am paid to write about tech, and I am so obsessed with tech I am forbidden from talking about aspects of it on this very site. So I know my way around a VPN, and so forth, and so on
The worst part is that they are law abiding citizens and when they get presented by the age verification barrier (and these are now popping up everywhere, and not always for, err, naked ladies) they are the type who will dutifully enter their details, take a picture of their ID and do the verification video etc... it's their data that's at risk, not ours or anyone else who will simply set their VPN to Switzerland or something.
They are so blind and outmoded that they don't get that the government is targeting them for all of these unnecessary checks and personal data.
The other day I was musing on the forthcoming robo-apocalypse. While Skynet may well want to exterminate anyone with the tech knowledge to turn it off (perhaps identified by seeing who installs VPNs 😅), it is hard to see why it would bother with off grid subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers in remote places.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
We don't need more people "foraging" for "wild food" thanks.
There's enough problems with habitat loss without someone picking various rarities because someone on Instagram said they are edible.
Wild edibles are generally extensively available. Of course nobody should ever consume anything they cannot 100% identify given the equally extensive lethal wild plants out there
Lots of things used to be extensively available until they weren't.
It would be difficult to make wild garlic extinct but it would quickly disappear in local woods if enough people picked it.
Good job not too many of us do then. Wild food makes a good addition to your diet. But I don't encourage others to go a gathering, its a little pleasure for me
UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect
Pornhub loses more than 1mn visitors in two weeks after Online Safety Act comes into force
Big win for the OSA. We should see a boost to productivity.
More like big boost for VPN companies, who are all foreign owned. Great for the economies of a number of Eastern European countries.
VPN yada yada. Fact is, there'll be fewer men and boys watching porn because some friction has been introduced into the access protocols. A good thing imo.
Not an easy thing to measure, but if I were to bet on the number of people accessing such sites iths month vs last month, I’d say that the number will be pretty much identical.
Making an activity harder to do leads to fewer people doing it.
Why should viewing porn be an exception to this?
It’s the online equivalent of the Chancellor putting 10p on a pack of cigarettes in the Budget.
If you want that (imperfect) comparison it's like a price hike AND having to produce an "I'm a drug addict" card to complete the purchase.
Anyway, we'll see who's right. There will be a consensus on the matter fairly soon.
We know that VPN's became the most downloaded app in the UK, google searches for VPN's went through the roof and so on. Maybe that's all just so we can read the news that's been redacted?
So what. VPN use rises and this mitigates the impact. Mitigates is not the same as eliminates.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
Having been 15 during the age of the internet. Using a VPN is trivially easy. Every male over the age of 11 will have figured it out. The older kids in school will have helped the younger ones install them on their phones, probably charged them a fiver of pocket money to do it too.
Yes, but not everyone is a tech bro wanker at that age.
Have you met any kids lately? It's all Fortnite and Roblox. They've literally been raised by the iPhone and iPad. PB is so far behind the times on this its laughable. It's also interesting that the supporters of the government are making these weak arguments in favour of the OSA and the ignorance about tech literacy among kids is about the same level as the government. I guess you're one of those people that believes deleting emails will save water.
If it is so easy to evade and everyone is evading it via VPN, then why are you so vexed by it.
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
Because it's hurting the UK's tech industry and investments. You know those job things that people keep banging on about, the very topic of this thread.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
They are just insanely dumb. The world has passed them by - @Foxy and @kinabalu - and they literally don't understand it. They open and close their mouths like fish but no sense comes out. Like the Labour MPs who don't understand why welfare spending means more borrowing
And yes, of course I am ALSO an old geezer. But I'm an old geezer obsessed with tech, and I am paid to write about tech, and I am so obsessed with tech I am forbidden from talking about aspects of it on this very site. So I know my way around a VPN, and so forth, and so on
The worst part is that they are law abiding citizens and when they get presented by the age verification barrier (and these are now popping up everywhere, and not always for, err, naked ladies) they are the type who will dutifully enter their details, take a picture of their ID and do the verification video etc... it's their data that's at risk, not ours or anyone else who will simply set their VPN to Switzerland or something.
They are so blind and outmoded that they don't get that the government is targeting them for all of these unnecessary checks and personal data.
The other day I was musing on the forthcoming robo-apocalypse. While Skynet may well want to exterminate anyone with the tech knowledge to turn it off (perhaps identified by seeing who installs VPNs 😅), it is hard to see why it would bother with off grid subsistence farmers and hunter gatherers in remote places.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
We don't need more people "foraging" for "wild food" thanks.
There's enough problems with habitat loss without someone picking various rarities because someone on Instagram said they are edible.
Wild edibles are generally extensively available. Of course nobody should ever consume anything they cannot 100% identify given the equally extensive lethal wild plants out there
Lots of things used to be extensively available until they weren't.
It would be difficult to make wild garlic extinct but it would quickly disappear in local woods if enough people picked it.
Good job not too many of us do then. Wild food makes a good addition to your diet. But I don't encourage others to go a gathering, its a little pleasure for me
As for wild garlic..... Obviously its illegal to dig up the roots of any wild plant unless you have permission of the landowner. Picking the leaves will not affect the wild garlic at all as it will grow back.
Comments
Just like Lucy Connolly, such threats should be taken very seriously.
The project to do so should have been started in about 1960.
But yes, one of the interesting/depressing things about our current times is that grey areas aren't allowed. Either something works completely, or it's a failure. We saw the same with anti-Covid measures.
And who knows? If marginally-horny boys can be distracted from internet porn, they might discover real girls, and decide it is worth trying to be attractive to them.
I thought we all agreed that the tendency to throw cheap bodies at problems was one of the reasons that Britain is not in a good way right now.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/live/c4g2nxrkvz7t#Scorecard
Most are giving thousands away for free.
What makes you think all porn users are doing this?
You could make it 20 overs of 5 balls per over I suppose,.
Of course regulating tech is hard because of tech. But tech can work in gamekeeper mode as well as poacher.
And in any case aren't most of the big issues we have hard to resolve?
Best one? Attacking a Labour minister for (rightly) saying the weather affects small boat crossings, with someone posting the headline where PM Sunak did the exact same thing.
Sorry @hyufd this isn't working...
It was designed for non cricket fans, to tempt them in. I get that. But there is a compromise out there in the modern age for how the score is displayed.
I really do blame Kemi. There is a sneering arrogance about her leadership - she is faultless and flawless and how dare you say anything else? Worse, some of her shadow team openly look like they are going through the motions because they obviously are.
Any public forum without a very strong editorial hand tends to be overrun by loud nutters, and I don't think anyone has ever solved that problem, ever.
https://x.com/LukeTryl/status/1955630106334175564
I suspect this was also true of the Conservative Party under Sunak but not under Johnson, May and Cameron. I suspect Farage as PM will get an equally easy ride, probably even easier.
Of course the conservatives will attack labour on lots of issues, including those they got wrong, but that is the nature of politics
Time will tell but the 50,000 landmark this week of crossings is toxic for labour
I would say I doubt the Lib Dems have the answers either
The law abiding citizen is being targeted while those who this is aimed at are literally circumventing it with VPNs or browsing websites that don't have age restrictions because they are unknown to the government and run out of a country where they don't care about complying to UK law.
Indeed, the Conservatives in Government were still trying to play the "Winter of Discontent" card against Blair in the 1990s when most people under 30 had no clue what it meant (though it wasn't for them of course).
The Conservatives governed for 13 years (1951-64), 18 Years (1979-97) and 14 years (2010-24). In the first two instances, they lost both the election which took them into Opposition and the following election. Indeed, until 2024, the defeats of 1966 and 2001 were two of the biggest since 1945 for the Tories.
Labour governed for 13 years (1997-2010) and lost in 2015.
On that basis, the prospects for Labour's re-election in 2028/29 are actually quite good but the current mood suggests otherwise.
Start building homes.
Pledge to build HS2 properly to Scotland and all parts North.
But still people won’t listen for a good few years.
* Stop sniggering at the back Jenkins
And probably better to be in the maelstrom than completely invisible. When 25% probably sees you seal the opposition gig and 30% gets you largest party convincing just a few makes a difference.
Judging anything by the pre 2024 standards is not the way to view 2029 imo
https://x.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1955633517930676660?t=7IH_yaRNljvUfuqx6-U5Vg&s=19
You oldies are so out of touch it's funny. The government is just as bad but they're in charge of policy which isn't funny.
They led Labour in 16 polls between GE 24 and LE 25
https://x.com/scuderiaferrari/status/1955245382189137996
The responses should have been predictable.
“Adrian Newey”
“A new team of strategy engineers”
“Someone who knows what he’s talking about to speak to Lewis”
Veterinary ones.
It's a better poll for the Conservatives, no doubt, but it could be an outlier.
Neither assumption is valid at this time and may not even be valid in 12 months let alone 36.
The glorious unpredictability of politics means almost anything could happen.
Perhaps Carla Denyer as LOTO staring across the dispatch box at Prime Minister Ed Davey - well, it's a thought....
I reckon it is a significant barrier to many, not least accidental surfers and those of a young age. A six year old googling "bum" will now get to age verification rather than hard core porn. That to me is a win.
And without the Great British Firewall, there is nothing to stop people going for sites outside the U.K.
Any horny teenager can bypass those in the way they can bypass OSA.
They have the legal right.
My top tip for the youth of today is study foraging not coding.
There's enough problems with habitat loss without someone picking various rarities because someone on Instagram said they are edible.
Where dies parental responsibility come into this? Why are you absolving the parents of that six year old? Why the hell has he got unsupervised access to an unrestricted device? Why is it the government's job to be the parents of that kid and not the parents job?
The government is regulating away our freedoms and people like you are clapping as they do it and all the while our economy goes down the shitter. Well done.
Would that be a sane thing for the government to try?
The downsides to the OSA are absolutely huge and the upsides are completely illusory.
And yes, of course I am ALSO an old geezer. But I'm an old geezer obsessed with tech, and I am paid to write about tech, and I am so obsessed with tech I am forbidden from talking about aspects of it on this very site. So I know my way around a VPN, and so forth, and so on
It would be difficult to make wild garlic extinct but it would quickly disappear in local woods if enough people picked it.
They are so blind and outmoded that they don't get that the government is targeting them for all of these unnecessary checks and personal data.
Well you could've knocked me down with a feather.......
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p038bnck/player
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/aug/13/bbc-apologises-thought-for-the-day-xenophobia-claim-robert-jenrick
as soon as possible