Important changes to the forum

[Buckman]

A bit different, but I have lived in two countries where news was censored and the general public where not aware of what was actually happening. I can understand the need to protect children, but as reported in many newspapers that the way the act is written, it can cover a lot of ground including political issues relating to the government.

We have a person that is currently in jail after a badly written post in the heat of the moment which was then removed by herself within hours. Within in weeks that person was in jail. By the same token we have two thugs that attack police persons and it takes over a year for them to end up in court?

I admit the ruling even if it covers just about every aspect of our lives , will not affect me as I only use social media mainly for subjects that are of interest to me i.e. cars and places lived and they are not political.

 

[Dustydog]

May be there is a way around this whilst still ensuring protection for the vulnerable.
How about some kind of AI facial recognition system.
I see on Google there are various facial recognition packages available that can tell your age? I doubt I could trick it as I no longer look like a teenager🤪

 

[otherclive]

May be there is a way around this whilst still ensuring protection for the vulnerable.
How about some kind of AI facial recognition system.
I see on Google there are various facial recognition packages available that can tell your age? I doubt I could trick it as I no longer look like a teenager🤪

That is one of the options avaiable to verify age. Each organisation though will have to decide which, if any is the most appropriate for their business.

Age Estimation Challenge | Test it Now! | Veriff

Think you can guess someone's age? Try our Age Estimation Challenge with a selfie to find out. How accurate do you think we'll can be? Learn more with Veriff.

www.veriff.com

But could there be get around? Apple and Google have ageing apps. 😂

 

[otherclive]

A bit different, but I have lived in two countries where news was censored and the general public where not aware of what was actually happening. I can understand the need to protect children, but as reported in many newspapers that the way the act is written, it can cover a lot of ground including political issues relating to the government.

We have a person that is currently in jail after a badly written post in the heat of the moment which was then removed by herself within hours. Within in weeks that person was in jail. By the same token we have two thugs that attack police persons and it takes over a year for them to end up in court?

I admit the ruling even if it covers just about every aspect of our lives , will not affect me as I only use social media mainly for subjects that are of interest to me i.e. cars and places lived and they are not political.

It should be remembered that the Online Safety Act covers adults as well as children.

Online Safety Act: explainer

www.gov.uk

 

[Mel]

I don’t know if this law will achieve its intentions. But I worked almost all my career treating the trauma of children who had been abused by adults. When you, like me, have sat with a 12 year old and listened to them tell you what has happened to them with social media being a central tool; then you would also say; just do something, do anything. The rights of the most vulnerable in our society must be at the top of the priority list.
Mel

 

[Buckman]

May be there is a way around this whilst still ensuring protection for the vulnerable.
How about some kind of AI facial recognition system.
I see on Google there are various facial recognition packages available that can tell your age? I doubt I could trick it as I no longer look like a teenager🤪

AI can quickly change all that. LOL!

 

[GUMPY]

That is one of the options avaiable to verify age. Each organisation though will have to decide which, if any is the most appropriate for their business.

Age Estimation Challenge | Test it Now! | Veriff

Think you can guess someone's age? Try our Age Estimation Challenge with a selfie to find out. How accurate do you think we'll can be? Learn more with Veriff.

www.veriff.com

That works well😉

Put my age at 56, not even within 15 years of my real age of 73😎

It's similar to the system that Bluesky use for verification.

 

[Dustydog]

I don’t know if this law will achieve its intentions. But I worked almost all my career treating the trauma of children who had been abused by adults. When you, like me, have sat with a 12 year old and listened to them tell you what has happened to them with social media being a central tool; then you would also say; just do something, do anything. The rights of the most vulnerable in our society must be at the top of the priority list.
Mel

The reasoning behind the Act has never been in question and is welcome by most throughout the U.K.

If for one moment I thought there was a possible” Groomer, miscreant “ on PCv I’d want the whole Forum shut down permanently.

Going forward if one Forumite wants to talk to another how can we achieve it? Or is this truly the end of the road?
I expect other Forums will suit including the two Clubs?

 

[GUMPY]

I expect other Forums will suit including the two Clubs?

Aren't the two club forums club members only?
If they are then age is presumably known from the membership details.

 

[RogerL]

The OSA scope doesn’t just cover children. Someone could join a forum then use private messaging to target another member. Low likelihood for a caravan forum I admit. But feasible nevertheless.

The OSA doesn't preclude private messaging between verified adults - which presumably puts an obligation on moderators and admin to respond robustly to any reports of offence.

OSA is a big broad brush and is to some extent overkill for volunteer-run hobby websites - but these cannot afford to ignore the law.

 

[otherclive]

That works well😉

Put my age at 56, not even within 15 years of my real age of 73😎

It's similar to the system that Bluesky use for verification.

Well it’s far enough over 18 years, and clearly you are ageing well. Let’s hope you don’t need such systems when you reach 100, or you could miss out on your card from the King.

 

[RogerL]

The reasoning behind the Act has never been in question and is welcome by most throughout the U.K.

If for one moment I thought there was a possible” Groomer, miscreant “ on PCv I’d want the whole Forum shut down permanently.

Going forward if one Forumite wants to talk to another how can we achieve it? Or is this truly the end of the road?
I expect other Forums will suit including the two Clubs?

On an unrelated forum, contributors in general took exception to certain members having private discussions rather than public postings - I take the view the PMs should only be used to hide personal data like phone numbers or bank details, not simply to discuss things in private.

 

[otherclive]

On an unrelated forum, contributors in general took exception to certain members having private discussions rather than public postings - I take the view the PMs should only be used to hide personal data like phone numbers or bank details, not simply to discuss things in private.

I don’t agree. I have been having useful PM discussions with Buckman regarding roof bars and our respective cars. Doing it via the Forum PM is very convenient and quite frankly if they were open posts it would bore others to death, or perhaps unwanted and unhelpful interjections would arise; leading to Fred Drift.

 

[Buckman]

It should be remembered that the Online Safety Act covers adults as well as children.

Online Safety Act: explainer

www.gov.uk

In other words everyone no matter your status and what you post! Sadly if you discuss hotels and people using boats you will probably be on the list for the Stasi to visit as they can use the Online Safety Act?

 

[RogerL]

I don’t agree. I have been having useful PM discussions with Buckman regarding roof bars and our respective cars. Doing it via the Forum PM is very convenient and quite frankly if they were open posts it would bore others to death, or perhaps unwanted and unhelpful interjections would arise; leading to Fred Drift.

Maybe other contributors would also benefit from your discussions - your cars aren't unique.

 

[RogerL]

In other words everyone no matter your status and what you post! Sadly if you discuss hotels and people using boats you will probably be on the list for the Stasi to visit as they can use the Online Safety Act?

Paranoia or what? Discussing issues like that isn't restricted - unless you have offensive ideas you want to promote.

 

[otherclive]

Maybe other contributors would also benefit from your discussions - your cars aren't unique.

Thank you, but we have a way forward.

 

[Buckman]

Paranoia or what? Discussing issues like that isn't restricted - unless you have offensive ideas you want to promote.

Have you lived in a country where you needed to be careful what you said and that was before the Internet? I do not have a problem, but it could stifle free speech and also any journalists from reporting on certain matters. I know most journalists need to sensationalise, but normally the story is based on some facts which them lead to the true story i.e. freebies handed out etc.

 

[Dustydog]

On an unrelated forum, contributors in general took exception to certain members having private discussions rather than public postings - I take the view the PMs should only be used to hide personal data like phone numbers or bank details, not simply to discuss things in private.

That’s ridiculous.
PMs were created to enable individual Forum Members have Private discussions about whatever they want without broadcasting it to the entire site.

I thought all PMs were shielded and private so how would another member know another is PMing ?

So how do we correspond with the Mods?

 

[Buckman]

So how do we correspond with the Mods?

If I remember correctly Parksy's email was part of his signature, but no such luck here as mods are in hiding so cannot contact them once PM is down. How would you raise a complaint about an obnoxious post if you cannot pm the moderator as you do not want to air your grievance with the poster on an open forum? Makes you wonder if we will we still be able to report spam posts?

 

[otherclive]

Have you lived in a country where you needed to be careful what you said and that was before the Internet? I do not have a problem, but it could stifle free speech and also any journalists from reporting on certain matters. I know most journalists need to sensationalise, but normally the story is based on some facts which them lead to the true story i.e. freebies handed out etc.

We have had Free Speech and free press/media for a long while. Speakers Corner was a must visit place. But there were underlying overtones throughout of State/Law interest in activities or persons deemed a risk to society. I recall going to listen to an election address by Jonathon Porritt an original Green campaigner. At the time he was considered a subversive risk to society. Now hes a Knight of the Realm. Anyway the next day I told my boss about the speach, which had ideas that are now embedded in society. He was somewhat shocked and told me to stay away from election meetings as it was highly likely that you were being photographed and checked out, and it wouldn’t be good for a career. Subsequently we’ve read of state infiltration of trades unions, protest groups etc. But these days where the line is drawn is more difficult given the range of possible threats, and the means of communication are so much more sophisticated.

 

[otherclive]

If I remember correctly Parksy's email was part of his signature, but no such luck here as mods are in hiding so cannot contact them once PM is down. How would you raise a complaint about an obnoxious post if you cannot pm the moderator as you do not want to air your grievance with the poster on an open forum? Makes you wonder if we will we still be able to report spam posts?

Can’t you just use the Report function if there’s a specific post?

 

[Hutch]

If I remember correctly Parksy's email was part of his signature, but no such luck here as mods are in hiding so cannot contact them once PM is down. How would you raise a complaint about an obnoxious post if you cannot pm the moderator as you do not want to air your grievance with the poster on an open forum? Makes you wonder if we will we still be able to report spam posts?

To report spam posts to the moderators, all you would is is the report, button on the bottom left of a post. Highlighted in blue.

 

[Jcloughie]

If I remember correctly Parksy's email was part of his signature, but no such luck here as mods are in hiding so cannot contact them once PM is down. How would you raise a complaint about an obnoxious post if you cannot pm the moderator as you do not want to air your grievance with the poster on an open forum? Makes you wonder if we will we still be able to report spam posts?

In the OP Shaun’s wrote.

As a result of recent changes within the UK Online Safety Act, we're going to be disabling direct messages between members of the forum. You'll still be able to contact our Administrators and our Moderators to address issues or raise concerns, but posts between regular community members will be permanently disabled very soon (some things need to be put in place first).

John

 

[Mel]

If I remember correctly Parksy's email was part of his signature, but no such luck here as mods are in hiding so cannot contact them once PM is down. How would you raise a complaint about an obnoxious post if you cannot pm the moderator as you do not want to air your grievance with the poster on an open forum? Makes you wonder if we will we still be able to report spam posts?

Mods are not in hiding. You can still report spam and offensive posts. As far as I understand, you can still dm us.
Mel