Censored!

[Steve R.]

Thankfully, this forum is very reasonable and open. On a Linux forum, I was unceremoniously censored for simply using the name "Musk". Unbelievable!
I just submitted an appeal.

I did a quick search on "Biden", who is clearly a controversial person. Received 22 hits on the forum. So those posts are not getting censored. One of those hits: "It is important enough that even the Biden administration is calling on software developers to move away from C and towards memory-safe languages like Rust.". Essentially similar to what I wrote. Simply replace "Biden" with "Musk" and "Rust" with "Linux". Ironic that a Linux forum would censor a post calling for computer systems that need to be upgraded to use Linux?!?!?!?!! An unfortunate case of the emerging viral malady "Musk Derangement Syndrome"?

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Hello SteveR,

Your topic has been removed from view due to the political nature of its content. Forum rule [2] Do not be Offensive or Abusive has a bullet point:

Messages that contain sensitive religious or political topics may be removed on the basis of inciting far too emotional and personal debate.

Elon Musk is very much a political figure right now and is causing debate world-wide.

Subject: Upgrade All US Federal Computer Systems to Linux

SteveR wrote: ⤴Sat Feb 15, 2025 11:46 am Elon Musk has publicly raised the concern that information technology in the US is antiquated. He is pushing that the computer systems be upgraded. The Linux community should view this as a tremendous opportunity to upgrade all US federal computer systems to Linux.

This is particularly important as the first thought of many people is to upgrade computer systems to simply a newer version of MS Windows, not Linux. The Linux community needs to inform those who will be designing the upgrades to look at Linux as a viable alternative to MS Windows.

Please spread the word that Linux would be a superior operating system to upgrade to.

Regards,
SMG
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[AngelSpeaks]

I would delete my account.

 

[Jon]

Things will change here shortly, due to the impending UK Only Safety Act. I personally become liable for everything you say, with huge potential fines. Consequently, topics for discussion will be severely curtailed, and moderation likely to be heavy.

 

[Steve R.]

I would delete my account.

While good advice, unfortunately I will have to stay with it since that is the Linux distro (Mint) that I am using. It would be a little difficult for an MS Access person to delete there account here since they probably are dependent on the advice.

Just received a response on my complaint. The typical bureaucratic non-answer:

This is an international forum. You advocating what a government of any country should or should not be doing is inherently political.

The purpose of this forum is to help people with their concerns and issues with Linux Mint.

The response above may be reflective of Jon's comment as the European community is apparently moving towards becoming "thought police".

Things will change here shortly, due to the impending UK Only Safety Act. I personally become liable for everything you say, with huge potential fines. Consequently, topics for discussion will be severely curtailed, and moderation likely to be heavy.

That is getting onerous. I just saw a video clip of a (Christian) person arrested for publicly praying in the UK, but I never hear of Muslims being arrested in the UK for publicly praying. The Linux Mint website according to Grok is hosted in France. So they may be affected in a manner similar to what you may soon be experiencing. Sorry that is happening in the UK. My condolences, you have a great website.

 

[Jon]

Thanks. I have had a free speech policy ever since the site started, but now I have legal liability due to the onerous new laws coming into place. I cannot risk going into bankruptcy because someone said something on the forums that the thought police didn't like.

 

[AngelSpeaks]

Things will change here shortly, due to the impending UK Only Safety Act. I personally become liable for everything you say, with huge potential fines. Consequently, topics for discussion will be severely curtailed, and moderation likely to be heavy.

Jon, you may want to restrict access to the opinions forums to members only. I am a moderator on another forum and that's what we do. Since that forum is for professionals only, new members have to answer a questionnaire and their first post must be approved. You would probably need more volunteers because your forum has more members.

 

[Jon]

Jon, you may want to restrict access to the opinions forums to members only. I am a moderator on another forum and that's what we do. Since that forum is for professionals only, new members have to answer a questionnaire and their first post must be approved. You would probably need more volunteers because your forum has more members.

If someone is a member, they can still report the issue. Making The Watercooler posts automoderated, where someone has to look at each reply, would really stifle the conversation. I hate it!

 

[moke123]

I personally become liable for everything you say, with huge potential fines.

Is that due to the fact your a UK citizen? For some reason I thought your servers are actually based in the US. I couldn't see fines being enforced against non-UK citizens or sites. Although I'm sure they could ban the foreign sites from the UK all together. The language in the law seems to indicate any site that is likely to be seen in the UK.

(5)For the purposes of subsection (2), a user-to-user service or a search service “has links with the United Kingdom” if—

(a)the service has a significant number of United Kingdom users, or

(b)United Kingdom users form one of the target markets for the service (or the only target market).

(6)For the purposes of subsection (2), a user-to-user service or a search service also “has links with the United Kingdom” if—

(a)the service is capable of being used in the United Kingdom by individuals, and

(b)there are reasonable grounds to believe that there is a material risk of significant harm to individuals in the United Kingdom presented by—

(i)in the case of a user-to-user service, user-generated content present on the service or (if the service includes a search engine) search content of the service;

That's pretty broad. I could see some sites maybe blocking UK access rather than be bothered.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Before the plug is pulled I would like to say thank you Jon!

Much appreciated.

 

[Jon]

Is that due to the fact your a UK citizen? For some reason I thought your servers are actually based in the US. I couldn't see fines being enforced against non-UK citizens or sites. Although I'm sure they could ban the foreign sites from the UK all together. The language in the law seems to indicate any site that is likely to be seen in the UK.

That's pretty broad. I could see some sites maybe blocking UK access rather than be bothered.

As I understand it, it does not matter where the site is located. A US company that hosts in the US, who breaks the UK law is also liable if a UK citizen is affected.

Yes, they made it exceptionally broad so they can bring the hammer down on anybody.

 

[Jon]

Before the plug is pulled I would like to say thank you Jon!

Much appreciated.

You're welcome. I did my best. Sadly, censorship has taken over the UK and jeopardises the livelihood of people like me, while ignoring all the crime going on elsewhere.

 

[Mike Krailo]

Maybe we can do what the recalcitrant dems are doing with their 22 state coordinated attempt to defy the current administration. They want the ability to communicate and plot their resistance in secrecy. We could simply have a private thread sort of a discussion and you get in by invitation only and what is said that room stays in the room. Kind of like Vegas.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Does the law cover private conversations? Silly question. Laws like this are intended to suppress thoughts. How else can the government control us?

 

[Jon]

I believe the law covers everything, although quite how we are supposed to monitor private conversations is beyond me. I've got to create a comprehensive audit of the site, the risk, technological solutions I have created and so on. I don't even know where to start. The whole thing is a nightmare, which is why some forum owners are closing down to avoid legal jeapordy.

 

[Jon]

Maybe we can do what the recalcitrant dems are doing with their 22 state coordinated attempt to defy the current administration. They want the ability to communicate and plot their resistance in secrecy. We could simply have a private thread sort of a discussion and you get in by invitation only and what is said that room stays in the room. Kind of like Vegas.

Until someone goes rogue and then I am personally liable again.

 

[Mike Krailo]

The dreaded leakers.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Anyone following UK politics in recent years saw this day coming. It's not a surprise.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Why do conservatives not take to the streets the way the liberals do? Christians being arrested for praying quietly in public is an outrage when Muslims do it all the time but not quietly.

 

[Mike Krailo]

Why do conservatives not take to the streets the way the liberals do? Christians being arrested for praying quietly in public is an outrage when Muslims do it all the time but not quietly.

Yea, but I fail to understand why anyone knowing what the current law is would just tell them what they were thinking? Really? Just say "I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, what is it?" That will shut them up and avoid any further action on their part. Unless they really can read minds!

 

[Pat Hartman]

Forums are places where people speak openly so they are a prime target if the government wants to disrupt public communication.