http://twitchy.com/amy-curtis/2024/11/28/uk-regulatory-rules-seek-to-control-us-tech-n2404357
The U.K. -- home of George Orwell -- is determined to cement its place in the world as a tyrant hellbent on censorship of 'hate speech' and 'crimes' of ungoodthink.
They want to 'summon' Elon Musk to the U.K. to 'testify' on 'misinformation'. That's likely a trap where they'll arrest Musk for the crime of hurting the Labour Party's feelings, and Musk won't take that bait.
But that won't stop them. Now they're proposing regulatory rules that would give the U.K. authority over U.S. tech:
Pirate Wires (@PirateWires) ~ A new regulatory coup in the UK could give London regulators the power interfere at the level of product design and to stop any tech acquisition, anywhere, for basically any reason they want. More:
• A newly minted UK regulator will soon be handed a raft of sweeping powers that will allow it to subject American tech companies to aggressive legal interventions
• A new “ex-ante” framework means US tech companies will be forced to work with regulators at the level of product design
• Companies face fines of up to 10% of global revenue for violations and up to 5% of global revenue for failing to cooperate with investigations (potentially on top of similarly large fines levied by the EU)
• The new laws allow the UK government to compel businesses and individuals abroad to produce information, including testimony and documentation, even in cases where (a) the deal is not primarily UK-related (b) the individuals in question are not UK nationals or residents and (c) the relevant documents are stored outside the UK
New @AshleyRindsberg piece on Pirate Wires today. Link is threaded. 👇
http://www.piratewires.com/p/shock-uk-regulatory-coup-gives-government-sweeping-control-over-us-tech
And more from Pirate Wires:
'A lot of people are talking about how neoliberalism is over, and how the Washington Consensus failed,' says Radic. 'As a result, a lot of this new regulatory movement is about subjecting private companies to the control of the state. This is a shift in political economy concerning the role of the state versus the role of the market and the permissible limits of state power.'
The trend seems to be going global. In addition to the UK, Brazil, Australia, Nigeria, Germany, South Korea and Turkey are all either looking at or implementing similar regulatory frameworks. This means US companies powering digital innovation will be fighting on (at least) three fronts — one for technological progress, the second to keep competitors at bay, and the third against a raft of new regulations being pushed by world governments who are increasingly rejecting free market principles in favor of an approach that’s beginning to seem a lot like top-down economic planning.
There’s a possibility that the Trump administration will, at least in some form, push back. But in the meantime, the regulatory hurdles are getting higher and the fines are getting bigger.
The Trump administration needs to push back.
Emily Schrader (@emilykschrader) ~ So basically the U.K. doesn’t want U.S. technology. GLWT.
Yeah, good luck with that.
D Carter (@d_carter99) ~ Doom and Gloom ... if U.K. Bureaucrats try to penalize American companies that don't bend some knee ... Trump will knee cap them.
He needs to.
Jimothy (@jamesbaratheon) ~ LOL. Imagine having zero U.S. tech companies operating in the U.K. Stone Age.
Not our problem.
I Love America News (@ILA_NewsX) ~ The U.K. has fallen. #FreeSpeech
Nailed it.
Thorolf Butter (@ThorolfButter) ~ The government putting its own regulators at the helm of private businesses is what actual fascism looks like in practice btw. Financiers fund the Government and are dictating policy. Starmer should at least have the decency to respect the public's intelligence by doing it covertly.
Nah, they're open about their fascism now.
Harris Rothaermel (@DeveloperHarris) ~ This is just gonna end the moment J.D. Vance suggests that in retaliation the U.S. will no longer participate in the five eyes intelligence program.
YUP.
DeusVult (@WindchimeBridge) ~ End result: products stop moving into the U.K. and it becomes a slightly-less-impoverished prison country than North Korea currently is.
From 'Keep Calm and Carry On' to ... whatever the heck Britain is today in two generations.
Miss Competence (@Miss_Competence) ~ "Companies face fines of up to 10% of global revenue for violations and up to 5% of global revenue for failing to cooperate with investigations."
Are they trying to find out what life would be like without U.S. technology? Almost seems like a dare at this point.
Call their bluff.
𝓐𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓷 𝓡𝓪𝔂 (@2CynicAl65) ~ Soon, we will be sending shortwave radio programs overseas so the people of U.K. can hear what's going on in the rest of the world. This is some East German level stuff, right here.
They read Orwell and thought it was an instruction manual.
Jay (@OneFineJay) ~ Tech embargo against the U.K. on Jan 20, 2025, including all Commonwealth Nations.
Let's do it.
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