2025-08-28 Online safety, maybe
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The longer I provide web services to strangers, the more I feel that
data is toxic. I used to think I only had to worry about spam and
vandalism, but with every regulator thinking that far more terrible
material is just waiting to show up, and that they need to go after
the recipients instead of the perpetrators, I'm really starting to
feel it.

DMCA and its descendants all over the world were pretty bad when it
came to the anti-circumvention clauses but pretty OK when it came to a
lack of moderation. And I know, moderation is good. But I also like
the fact that I can host a lot of wikis without having to moderate.
Luckily, it wasn't necessary in the last 20 years (other than spam and
vandalism). It's getting somewhat harder to be excited by it all,
though.

For example, the Online Safety Act in the UK basically requires
moderation before publication (or geo-blocking the UK).

Another example is my Xobaque "search engine with no crawler" that
relies on feeds to provide the pages to index. The feeds are untrusted
data provided by strangers on the Internet. Should Xobaque check that
the pages actually exist? Should I check that they are on-topic and
don't violate the law? (In what jurisdictions?) Should I verify the
identities of the people that upload the feeds? The people writing the
feeds?

Or should I just stand on the balcony and water the plants, listening
to the drone of planes above and constant rumbling of cars in the
distance, tending my garden, as it were.

I suspect this is the beginning of chilling effects. For a short
while, tinkering at home felt the same, whether it was a little
something for the household or for "the Internet". As it becomes clear
that private and public spheres are in fact different, something must
change. The first time I realised this was during the Napster days of
copyright and music. The more this happens, the more I feel that
online activity basically requires a lawyer, a company (the
sacrificial lamb should you stumble somewhere on the way), and all the
other contraptions of corporate life. Blech!

#Copyright #Surveillance #Politics #Xobaque