Y’all, the UK’s law about needing an ID to be on any social media platform over 10,000 users is the canary in the coal mine. Similar laws have already been proposed by US states and other countries. On a long enough timeline, this is coming for us all.

So, with that in mind, I want to get in early with some good old fashioned forum sites. You know, the kind that have no app and don’t need my Fing ID to let me sign up.

Any topic welcome as long as the community is active and strong.

  • hansolo@lemmy.todayOP
    8·
    2 days ago

    Off hand, only instances with adult content would really be scrutinized at first, but any lemmy instances based on the UK might have to relocate their servers or domains rather than incur costs of compliance. The law also describes social media as “user-to-user” platforms, and I thought I saw somewhere that 10,000 users was the lower end of platforms they care about. Likely banning UK IPs on all instances would be the only real final step since there’s no money to take in fines from a lemmy instance.

    • iii@mander.xyzEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      might have to relocate their servers or domains rather than incur costs of compliance.

      I’m wondering about that, as I fear it’s insufficient. As long as (1) there could be UK users (using a VPN or not), and (2) there could be “adult” content, the law applies. At least, that’s how I understand it?

      • hansolo@lemmy.todayOP
        7·
        2 days ago

        Well, a large number of UK users, OR targeting the UK market, is enough as well.

        Personally, I think the solution is to have the whole world ban the UK from their websites and see how long this stupid law lasts.

        • r0ertel@lemmy.world
          3·
          1 day ago

          I’m interested in the second part, how # users are determined. Lemmy is federated,instance so if i setup a community instance physically I the UK and cap users at 9999,flying just under the threshold,but i federate with everywhere, my instance don’t have enough users to require compliance, right? What if i set up 5 separate instances,each capped at 9999? There’s got to be a loophole…for the children.

          • hansolo@lemmy.todayOP
            2·
            1 day ago

            I can’t find the reference to 10,000 users again, so take my own words with a grain of salt. The law itself doesn’t give a minimum number. But if you start a new instance called “dicksoutforharambe.lemmy.uk” with NSFW content, and hosting it on servere physically in the UK, I imagine that within 2-3 years, someone will come calling.