Labour isn't Working - Thread 34

[Nuthatch26]

A chat thread for those who don't like this Labour government. 💙

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.

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@CaveMum I absolutely love cats and I'm thrilled to hear you're getting kittens 🥰

@EasternStandard I think I saw you on another thread asking about the social media ban BlueSky. It's not banned because it's for lefties.

I wasn't quite sure about the social media ban initially but having thought about it I am against it - it's just a way of getting everyone's ID online. Many of us won't want to present official ID to social media companies. It will be tied in with digital ID somehow.

Also, I think the thing about creating a more biddable generation, a generation who look to the government for permission for everything, is linked to this.

I’m concerned about the ID part too which I’m sure is a main driver.

It’s useful for a younger dd who is good with rules and makes my job at saying no easier.

But Starmer and his heavy treading makes it worse.

So mixed feelings.

Actually now I’ve thought about it would the state have the facial recognition information? Perhaps not.

If you've a passport, driving licence, blue badge they surely do.

I mean I want to be anonymous from the state on SM. Not that I post anything bad. This is it! My mn posting. I’m not on X etc

But I don’t want further state incursion digitally and I’m not sure what facial recognition to prove age provides.

@CaveMum Exciting; kittens are so much fun, especially when you have more than one. When do they arrive?

The social media ban seems to me to be just another restriction imposed by this awful government, and concerns about ID are probably more than valid. My hackles were raised just listening to the bollard announcing it this morning.

(Caveat: My views on this are skewed because I don't live with any under-16s who spend their lives glued to their screens.)

Someone saying that it’ll be via digital ID linked to facial recognition and then SM use.

I need to understand more what will happen but a) tf bollard is going and he won’t be overseeing this and b) it worries me a lot.

I get the upside for saying no to dc, that’s the easy part. But the state control part is bad.

Thanks all. We’ve not got a definite date for kitten arrival yet but it will be in the next 3-4 weeks. They’ve just had their first vaccinations and the rescue don’t like to let them go until they’ve had their second.

They are a boy and girl currently called Popcorn and Pringle but we’re working on new names, which is causing much argument between the kids 🤣

Cheeky kitten spam for you, Pringle on the left.

Back to politics, the lady on LK yesterday (I forget her name) was very good on the social media stuff. She pointed out that the legislation is already there, we don’t need more - the Government just need to pull their finger out and start enforcing it.

A ban lets the SM companies off the hook in terms of the content they are producing/allowing. No one, over 16 or not, needs to be able to access beheading videos and hardcore porn, so why the hell do they allow it through?

DD is 12 and yes she has a smartphone but it is locked down with absolutely no social media at all, barring WhatsApp which I heavily monitor. Her phone goes into my bedroom at 8pm every night and she doesn’t get it back until we leave for school in the morning.

Cute! Love their names

My DC have very limited access to social media. For example, my oldest is almost 16 and we have not let him have Tik Tok, X, Facebook or Instagram. However, he does use You Tube including to help with his GCSE revision. There is a lot of educational content on there and I think it will be a shame if that is lost. Would also potentially disadvantage summer born kids. Hopefully someone will come up with some form of educational platform.

Thanks for that overview. I missed the announcement this morning.
Hmmm. I don't like the sound of that from your take.

I didn’t listen either. Bollard plus digital control is the stuff of nightmares ;

I think as someone posted on another thread adults will use VPNs more, so hopefully Labour won’t ban that too.

But someone else said VPN's. would be banned by this government.

They are gorgeous! Beautiful colour. Sorry to hear that you lost your cat recently. 💐
Bet you can't wait to bring them home. ❤️

The cats at the cafe looked fed up and were actively avoiding people. I think there may have been too many people in there. Dd is really disappointed and thought they looked stressed. She is cat mad, but said she wouldn't go back. They weren't rescues, nothing charitable going on. Most looked quite young too.

We had a sort of cat café in that the owners had a lazy ginger Tom that slept most of the day in the cafe. He was friendly when he felt like it

Surely labour can’t be stupid enough to tie a popular policy like banning SM for under 16s to a failure like digital ID….oh, wait….!
lovely kittens!

Anything is possible. Someone has berated me for spreading false information when I quoted the BBC. I posted the link as I was watching the programme. I give up 🙄

That's a shame, I was hoping for a happy adoption update. I feel for the cats in that situation, though. They probably were stressed; no matter how friendly, they're not naturally gregarious and don't appreciate "busy" situations. It's one reason why some charities won't rehome cats to families with young children (it's the first question our local RSPCA asks).

The ban on SM for under-16s seems to be getting some very mixed reactions - not least from the press, who say it's a legacy decision by the bollard ahead of him being unceremoniously ejected from No.10 after Thursday's vote.

SNP’s children’s commissioner is saying the tech companies should be pressurised to make their content less addictive and exploitative…yes, and how is that going?

the tech companies have had years to reform themselves.

Don’t worry. There’s always some pushing Labour lines on SM.

Bit late to the London discussion but I'm here just now, and decided to have a look around one of the not so central areas nearby where I'm staying.
It's really, really grim. Pavements a broken mess, most of the houses shabby and neglected looking, litter everywhere, weeds everywhere (at least the wildlife like that, I suppose). It must he depressing beyond measure to live there.

Also, and I present this fact neutrally, there has been almost complete demographic change in what must have been a relatively short time frame.

I do think the central areas of London are great, and if people visit and go on holiday I can well understand then not seeing what the hell people are complaining about.
But what's the point of a city if you need serious wealth just to live a safe, pleasant life there?

If we are going to keep under 16s off social media, does that mean the end of anonymous internet? We have tolog in every time.

@SpaceRaccoon that's interesting

I lived in an outer zone. It wasn't so much it looked bad - although it didn't look great. It was more what was actually going on in the area. I don't know really what it looks like to other people because I lived there for so long I got used to it. There was a time that some friends of my parents dropped me off. They hadn't seen the area for ages and they were honestly silent in the car because they were a bit shocked. Certainly, the litter bins are overflowing.

I can probably think of a few places in zone 2 that look like what you are describing

Is it a place that's supposed to be nice? What I find really weird is when you go somewhere that's supposed to be really nice and it's horrible.

I'm used to London going up and down, but at the moment, I don't see any options for improvement in the short term.

@Pacificsunshine yes - this is one of the reasons why I'm not in favour of it. I also think the horse has bolted. Ironically, people like myself - child free - were talking about the damage for years and years. I have genuinely been told "I didn't think you'd be such an old fuddy duddy" when I was in my 30s and warning about it.

I also criticised access to the Internet being essential for school and people just thought I was nuts.

The only reason this will have come up now is because it's a way to exert control. And we now find out all sorts of things - I know Tony Blair said he regretted the freedom of information act - so if you can get a generation away from finding out stuff, they will become adults who are more likely to accept the sound bites they are given by government. I've just seen some stuff about council contracts that's really eye-opening. They want people to be unable to find out the everyday stuff, or at least they want them to have to work much harder to find it.

Obviously, I don't have children so in terms of the alleged damage caused by social media - if we look at young girls obsessing over what they look like, pretty much the same thing happened with glossy magazines. They were blamed for anorexia in the 90s.

I also think we'll probably see an increase in underage drinking. Some of those teens have disappeared because they're busy with the Internet

Maybe in reality their parents will just let them use their account accounts.

I don't know if the tech companies will try and fight back because a lot of of us we will just walk away if we're asked to give official documentation to prove our age.

That then ties in with digital ID, I suppose - if we are forced to have it and My ID is out there, then maybe I wouldn't be so concerned about handing it to a tech giant. I don't know.

I do think it's a shame that Kemi Badenoch has been so vocal about it. I was hoping she would changed her mind.

It's not just damage though, I've got a 12 yo ds who uses YouTube for a wealth of information that isn't easily accessed outside of it...like how to paint the ideal Warhammer character, on loop - to perfect it as he goes.

And info about time and space that would be too dry in books - although he did give how to build a universe a decent shot there isn't much in books that isn't too novice like without being too expert - but YouTube videos provide an accessible middle ground.

Idk, he watches it in the living room so he doesn't end up in an algorithm drain of weirdness and that's how we keep some oversight. I can see I might be one of these bad parents prepared to operate tactically around this.