Lobsters blocking UK users because of the Online Safety Act

This site is just as much of a hugbox. At least they have transparent moderation. Here you just get deaded and shadowbanned and don't know why. (Well, you can guess: because you posted a right-wing opinion)

I used to have an account on that site as well and left for the same reason: repeated messages telling me I had been flagged and I needed to reconsider when I dared to venture too far outside the desired narrative. There will be many others who have made or will make the same decision which leaves sites like this with a population which is mostly ideologically cohesive. Maybe that is a good thing for those sites and maybe the participants feel 'safe' in such an environment but it surely is lacking in stimulating curiosity and widening one's intellectual horizon.

I am no fan of Brave, but where is the logic here? Just because someone uses Brave, they will engage in toxic discussions on crypto? Am I missing something?

It’s my impression that it’s mostly a browser. But I don’t use it, because who needs another WebKit clone.

I use Brave for YouTube and other streaming, and I've never encountered any crypto stuff. They have/had their own BAT token that dealt with paid advertising but I've not seen it mentioned in quite some time.

As far as I can tell it's just another browser that blocks a lot of internet crap.

It's you.

That's a good point, but the thing to do in that case is post the original URL and add an archive link in the thread. I've done that now (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43152546).

Are there any previous cases of the UK intercepting and arresting a US citizen traveling through Europe for something that isn't a crime in the US?

The UK is not a part of the EU.

I also recognize the potential for legal action or criminal charges. Those are great opportunities to fight these tyrants in one of the few battlefields available to us.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. said:

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law."

Now, it may be that Lobsters simply doesn't have the highest respect for the law, or perhaps they value their community's survival over leading by principle and securing a bright future for posterity. Short-sighted thinking, but I understand the motivation.

My comment is a call for people to consider their priorities with respect to the world we leave behind us. Taking the easy way out and avoiding conflict with an encroaching global authoritarian movement is not going to fix anything, and contributes toward an ever-darker future.

This is not a jab at Lobster, and I am glad to see them at least trying something before simply geoblocking the UK. But what if geoblocking isn't enough? What if knowing a VPN-enabled user is from the UK but not banning them is still grounds for a lawsuit or criminal charges?[0] What if more countries join in?

[0] This leads to the ironic outcome that the UK becomes less represented in the next generation of online discourse and slides further into backwater obscurity, despite being home to such rich culture and academia.

I have very complex and mixed feelings about US tax law in general as it stands, and I certainly do not condone the current state of US foreign diplomacy in general, nor how our economic situation after Europe was shattered by war led to increased international economic control and influence, and economic consolidation under the dollar.