New legislation set-out by the UK Conservative party could see people receive 15 year prison sentences simply for consuming internet content that 'promotes terrorism'.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced at this week's Conservative Party conference that she will seek to implement changes to the 2000 Terrorism Act that will allow harsher penalties to be doled-out for those who stream or read 'ideological essays or sermons, and other written or video material that can be used to promote a terrorist cause'.
People who repeatedly view terrorist content online will face up to 15 years in prison, the home secretary has told the Conservative Party conference.
Amber Rudd set out her intention to change the law to increase the maximum penalty from 10 years.
The offence of possessing information likely to be useful to a terrorist will also apply to material viewed repeatedly or streamed online.
Currently it applies only to material that is downloaded and stored.
An example cited was of a male who streamed bomb-making videos on YouTube but could not be charged with a terror offence because he had not saved them.
The changes to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 will be designed to safeguard those who click on a link by mistake, or who could argue that they did so out of curiosity rather than with criminal intent.
Although nobody in their right mind will argue against taking action against ISIS content online, it is beyond Orwellian to start locking people up for 15 years of their life simply for clicking on certain websites.
Exemptions are given to journalists and academics who study terrorist material, but ultimately it's down to the discretion of the court. The 'wrong kind' of journalist or academic, someone who works in alternative media for instance, could easily be put behind bars for their best years simply for clicking on a web link.
It surely can't just be me who is uncomfortable about the state wielding such huge powers with little accountability? And if you think that these powers can only be used against ISIS, you'd be wrong - the UK clearly designates peaceful protests that require police intervention in any capacity as 'low-level terrorism'. https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-challenges-defense-department-personnel-policy-regard-lawful-protests-low-level-terrorism
So according to their rules, you could watch a video about an upcoming student protest and end-up facing more than a decade behind bars.
The dystopian consequences of this could be incredibly damaging, but ultimately no public figures will be brave enough to stand up against further surveillance and security measures considering how many terrorist attacks the UK has suffered recently. ISIS have done Theresa May and her ambitions of a surveillance state a massive favour in that regard.
The world's most advanced and all-encompassing surveillance state - the United Kingdom - is only going in deeper. All Brits should be deeply concerned.
As the old latin saying goes "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (Who watches the watchers. As much as I can see how this would be close to impossible to implement, I mean VPNs are no secret. I won't dissmiss it to quick, there is some political points trying to be scored but at what expense. This is some crazy times we live in, that is for sure
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While you are absolutely correct that it is horrible to be locked up for 15 years for viewing pixels, you neglect to be horrified that you can already be locked up for 10. Sure, 15 is worse. but it's the first month that is the hardest.
Once all your stuff is stolen, and all your dreams are crushed, it's just a waiting game. Prison is a place where the minutes drag on forever, and the years disappear.
Maybe I'm insane, but I do argue against it. First, even whackos have the right to speak their minds. Inciting riots, or revolutions, isn't shouting fire in a crowded theater - or it's damn well time for that revolution!
Second, it'd be a lot easier to dismiss ISIS' arguments if I knew what they were. I reckon most people would dismiss them as well, if they're unreasonable. What we hear ISIS' opinions are is what the lying propagandists tell us they are, and I know enough to dismiss those vapid opinions.
Third, if they are effectively recruiting via the internet, then having that content available freely, given our surveillance state, then tracking those radicalized would be much easier.
Ya think? Pretty sure that's what ISIS is for. When they were created by Zbigniew Brzezinski and Jimmy Carter back in 1978, they were aimed at Russia. The slippery slope eventuated, and now they're pointed at us, too. They were aimed at Russia alone initially, because of the political ease of pointing terrorists at the Commies back in the day.
The real target is, and likely has always been, us.
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I don't doubt that at all. ISIS are a creature of American origin. But obviously, Theresa May and her government did not plan to create the group, but are taking advantage of the fear they are provoking in order to pass draconian laws.
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Government is going too far, but we are letting them!
In addition to what you wrote....
They are taxing us more under the pretense of terrorism, global warming and other "problems" we have in our world.
But is the money spent effectively? Rarely!
That's because they don't spend it with the result in mind, they spend it make people, you and me, feel as though they are doing something.
I upvote all comments to all of my posts to help my fellow Steemians earn Steemit rewards and more voting power. :)
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Good luck trying to get that to work
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VPN, problem solved.
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Good article, this stupidity from the Conservatives in the UK completely underlines their complete lack of comprehension regarding - well - pretty much anything. To be cynical, it is a useless attention-seeking gambit to try and persuade a few uncritical minds that they have some 'handle' on terrorism and its causes. If they actually believe this crap themselves, they are even more stupid than I thought. Thousands if not millions of people's lives are destroyed every year by British manufactured weapons that are happily promoted and sold by these very same corporate slaves who come up with this genius 'mindcrime' nonsense. The relative handful of people whose lives are ruined by 'terrorism' are unlikely to be protected one iota. These people are morons, their ideas are vacuous, and they should be ignored, utterly, for the irrelevancy they are. Db
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