general election
Latest
Get ready for your Facebook friends to tell you they voted
The UK's General Election is this Thursday, and if marking a cross next to your preferred MP fills you with pride, Facebook will soon make it easier to tell your friends and family. The company is introducing a special "I'm a Voter" button at the top of Brits' News Feeds, prompting you to write a status update that explains you've been to the polling station. The feature has been used for the last three US elections and the Scottish referendum -- not only does it publicise your own vote, but it could also nudge other people that have forgotten the date or been debating whether to vote at all. Channel 4, meanwhile, has already pledged to suspend its regular programming on E4 in order to encourage young people to vote. Neither company can force you to take part, but it's hoped these sorts of initiatives will improve voter turnout and create a more representative election.
Google will tell you who your local General Election candidates are
The manifestos are out and party leaders are busy touring the country. Even tech companies are doing what they can to help you choose a side ahead of next month's General Election. Twitter rolled out its political emoji, lovingly referred to as "hashflags", earlier this month, but Google's just launched a valuable resource that tells you all of the election candidates in your area. If you pull up a Google search and enter the words "who is on the uk ballot," the search giant will ask you to enter your postcode or constituency before displaying an alphabetic list of all the candidates gunning for your vote. As expected, the 2015 Election campaign has been the most web-friendly yet -- it's just a shame online voting won't happen any time soon.
E4 will 'shut down' on election day to encourage young people to vote
What's the best way to encourage young people to vote? There's no definitive answer, but switching off a TV channel is one of the more unusual ideas we've heard about. For the UK's General Election on May 7th, Channel 4 says it will "shut down" E4 from 7am and instead show a fictional character called Darren. As promotional ads reveal, the idea is that Darren runs E4 behind the scenes, and will be turning off the channel to make sure everyone places their vote. It's not like E4 will actually close down that day, but still, it's brave of the broadcaster to abandon its usual slate of shows, ads and promos. We're interested to see how the public reacts -- it's a little patronising to suggest all of Britain's youth is incapable of voting and watching The Big Bang Theory in a single day.
UK government plans to block porn sites without age verification
It's election season in the UK, so get ready for a near-endless stream of new policies, proposals and promises from the major political parties. The latest from the Conservatives is actually an old idea that's been kicking around since last autumn: to force sites containing adult material to introduce proper age checks. It goes beyond the UK government's rather unpopular porn filters, which ISPs are now forced to offer customers as an "unavoidable choice." Simply highlighting the feature was supposed to encourage adoption, particularly from parents, but the latest figures from Ofcom suggest its impact has been limited. Now, the Conservatives want "effective age verification controls" for all online pornography, and plan to block sites which refuse to implement proper checks.
Facebook will urge every adult to vote in the General Election
If canvassers, flyers and TV debates weren't enough, Facebook is going to play its part in getting Brits to vote in this year's General Election. For tomorrow only, the social network will host the "largest ever voter registration campaign," its first in the UK, prompting eligible (read: adult) users to register to vote. Facebook is working with the Electoral Commission to place reminders in eligible users' Newsfeeds and will also add a new "Life Event" to profiles that will tell friends and family that they've registered. The thinking behind this is clear: Facebook welcomes 35 million people every month, which is more than the number of people who voted in the 2010 General Election, when 29 million votes were recorded. By motivating Facebook-loving adults, the Election Commission hopes it can spur voter turnouts or even just remind people that it's now possible to register to vote online. If you're one of millions who use Facebook's official mobile apps, expect to see the following notice in your Newsfeed tomorrow:
