I’m not saying they shouldn’t try to attempt something to combat bullying and anti-social and disgusting behaviour but when there is currently 500 hours of video footage being uploaded to YouTube every MINUTE, how on earth do Ofcom think they are going to be able to grab a hold of the reigns of this and censor accordingly? Not least because these are American companies and AFAIK not beholden to comply with UK politicians viewpoints and let’s be honest, which politician is going to put themselves out there with a pledge to block YouTube in the UK and expect it to be a vote pleaser? (Actually, scrap that, I could see some over-compensated idiots in the role thinking they were being a crusader and attempting to do it but finding out harshly, and very quickly, that voters didn’t like the idea of scrapping YouTube lol).
I don’t know the figures and traffic on other sites but I imagine Twitter is way, way higher. Other than the block/report system they have in place, what are they expected to do to combat what’s being proposed by Ofcom? I’m not defending Twitter and think mostly their mods act appallingly, especially when it comes to some rights and not others, but I don’t get how Ofcom are expected to monitor this when social media has become so big they can’t even monitor themselves properly?
And that’s not even before bringing sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, as well as WhatsApp, into the mix, and also many others.
I don’t think the proposal is a bad thing. I welcome it if could stop bullying and threats. But just wondering when Ofcom attempts to slap down a fine on one of these sites whose bases are based abroad and not compliant with UK laws and they say “no, we are not going to pay this fine”, then what exactly are Ofcom going to do? There would be more riots on the street ever since KFC ran out of chicken if the UK government then put a block on YouTube.
I don’t get the pontificating over something completely unrealistic, or maybe they are just put of touch and don’t understand how things work online in these times. AIBU?