A prince, an ambassador, senior diplomats, top politicians. All brought down by the Jeffrey Epstein files. And all in Europe, rather than the United States.
The huge trove of Epstein documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice has sent shock waves through Europe’s political, economic and social elites — dominating headlines, ending careers and spurring political and criminal investigations.
Former U.K. Ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson was fired and could go to prison. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a leadership crisis over the Mandelson appointment. Senior figures have fallen in Norway, Sweden and Slovakia. And, even before the latest batch of files, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of King Charles III, lost his honors, princely title and taxpayer-funded mansion.
I sense a dangerous level of willful disbelief. Things in the UK and EU are going to get worse. The fascists don’t follow rules, and most of your politicians have the same weaknesses as our controlled opposition.
Do not be complacent, because they are already in your midst with blades to your throats. They are preparing to cut.
Disbelief of what? That the UK government is keeping secret social scores on it’s citizens? Yeah. Until I see evidence of that.
They are starting to police the internet more though. I personally think that’s due to the huge amounts of misinformation used to manipulate the public via social media. I.e. The Southport Riots which were inflamed by spreading of lies about immigrants.
This is probably an unpopular opinion here but I think there should be more control. Peoples view of reality is being completely distorted by the internet and what they see and read. It will only get worse with AI and deepfakes. I personally think it does need more policing. There is a good documentary called "Hypernormalisation’ by Adam Curtis that explores the reality distortion we experience. It is worth watching.
My political views are that one of governments main duties is to protect citizens from harm. That includes protecting them from business malpractices from social media companies and foreign influencers looking to destabilise the population. I believe our government should take action to prevent harm from those.
I am not being wilfully ignorant of what they are doing. I support it. That may make me unpopular here but so be it. I stand by that belief. I will change it if I am presented with tangible evidence of things like social ratings for citizens or nefarious uses of peoples information. I haven’t seen any this far though. Feel free to send some if you have any.
Are you for age (ID) verification? Are you fine with no channels of privacy? Do you support things like chat control in the EU?
If you do, then you are blind to how these people think and operate.
Am I fine with age verification? Yes, I am. Especially for social media. I don’t want children being brainwashed by right wing propaganda that is prevalent on there and I believe the state has a duty of care to protect citizens.
No channels of privacy? No, I am not fine with that. I haven’t seen any evidence to suggest that private conversations are not possible though, either via chat encryption or any other method. Is there any for the UK?
Chat control? I’m not sure. That sounds vague. I would need to know the specifics and what it’s protective purpose is.
You are welcome to call me blind. You still haven’t presented any evidence that the government is keeping secret social scores on it’s citizens though, nor any evidence of state wide internet restrictions on privacy. If there is such evidence and I believe it is a threat to an open and democratic society then I will act.
The USA is currently descending into authoritarianism, in my view precisely because “freedom of speech” and freedom of ownership are so closely protected. Malicious forces can spread whatever messages they want and influence whoever they want with impunity.
My view is that the current UK government is not a threat to the people. The elites looking to purchase power and influence and eventually become the government are the biggest threat. Social media is their most effective weapon.
I would argue that if you can’t see that then you are blind yourself.
I’m happy to agree to disagree though. Civility and all that.