Open Rights Group put out a video of me at their Don’t Scan Me protest, explaining why I wrote the op-ed.
Was nice to see it getting ReTweets at a pretty strong ratio (that’s Boosts for those who have spent the last year clearing their heads in the fediverse).
At the start of the video - recorded before the coronation - I said “I feel grateful to live in a country where can feel free to come out and protest”. And then a couple weeks later, just down the street in Westminster, pro-democracy campaigners were arrested under the Public Order Act for Minority Report style pre-crimes. ORG believe the Online Safety Bill will replicate such censorious policing online.
I don’t necessary share the libertarian alarm: I support state-regulation of public platforms (especially for children). But we must heed their warning on overpolicing.
The Spy Clause aims to open up all communications to be policed, and we must assume that means overpoliced.
That’s why I say a more fundamental freedom than protest is privacy.
The most basic right that must be defended to the last garrison is this: one adult citizen should be able to multiply prime numbers together when sending a communication to another adult citizen.
Don’t Scan Me.
