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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:
Sky will soon switch on adult broadband filters for indecisive customers
As part of David Cameron's plan to protect young internet users, broadband providers have been forced to offer an "unavoidable choice." This impels new subscribers to decide whether they want to enable or disable blocks on adult content. However, UK consumers have already highlighted their dislike for such filters, with only one in every seven customers letting the big four UK ISPs guard them from porn and the darker parts of the internet. One of those major providers, Sky, saw just eight percent of customers enable the option before July 2013, but that statistic could change drastically as part of new measures announced today.
The UK wants to essentially ban all secure communications
In the wake of the recent terror attacks in Paris, the UK Prime Minister David Cameron has called for stronger legislation against secure forms of communication. Encryption wasn't specifically mentioned, instead the Conservative party leader reaffirmed his stance with a question: "Do we want to allow a means of communication between people which, even in extremis, with a signed warrant from the home secretary personally, we cannot read?" Cameron pressed forward with the argument that terrorists are using these protected methods of communication and that the UK government, with fresh legislation in 2016, should be able to monitor them. "Are we going to allow a means of communication where it simply isn't possible to do that? My answer to that is, no, we must not," he said.
UK government to launch a revamped Computer Science GCSE in 2016
After realising that lessons on Microsoft Office aren't particularly useful for schoolchildren, the UK government has started doubling down on coding. After launching a new computing curriculum in September, the Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to introduce a new Computer Science GCSE by 2016, focused on writing code, designing applications and exploring some of the ethical and legal issues that surround new technology.
UK ISPs will enlist the help of customers to flag extremist content
In its mission to keep us safe from extreme content, the British government has persuaded the UK's largest ISPs to add a "public reporting button" for their customers. BT, Virgin, Sky and TalkTalk have all agreed to the idea in principle, but they're yet to share how it'll actually be implemented. The new button should, in theory, lift some of the burden away from the authorities and encourage more people to flag radicalising material. Every week, the UK's Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit pulls 1,000 items from the web that breach the 2006 Terrorism Act; enlisting the public will increase the number of eyeballs they have scouring the web and should shorten the time it takes to remove infringing content.
UK tries to protect kids by rating music videos like movies
While David Cameron's broadband filters are doing an admirable job of shielding Britain's young eyes from adult content, the government reckons it can do more. That's why, as from October, it'll treat music videos like movies and begin placing age ratings on them. The Prime Minister announced the new program during a speech yesterday, noting that the government will work with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to "protect [..] children from some of the graphic content music videos" hosted on YouTube and Vevo.
UK government will unblock websites after adult filter blunder
Shortly after the UK government implemented a nationwide adult content filter, it transpired that it wasn't just naughty sites you couldn't access. Copyright blogs, relationship education sites and even women's crisis centers were all marked as being dangerous for family viewing. After much hand-wringing, the government has admitted the error, and is now working on a whitelist of sites that shouldn't be censored. At the same time, there are plans to develop an appeals system -- so that we can all go back to reading about James Earl Miles Jr. without fear.
UK government to activate adult content filters by default
In a speech later today, David Cameron will announce that, by the end of this year, all new UK broadband accounts will have adult content filters activated by default. Such restrictions will only be removed if the account-holder specifically requests it. Meanwhile, around 20 million users already connected will be presented with an "unavoidable decision" concerning adult content, and public WiFi providers must advertise if they utilize filters or not. Cameron also wants to outlaw "extreme pornography," unify police forces' regional databases and request that the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center draws up a "blacklist" of search terms to prevent people from searching for outlawed images online. Legislation will be introduced towards the end of the year to codify the changes, and ISPs not considered to be doing enough will be forced into action.
UK Prime Minister to receive personalized iPad app for government news
UK Prime Minister and long time iPad fan David Cameron will receive a custom iPad app for keeping on top of government news, according to The Telegraph. Cabinet Office programmers have been working on the app that will deliver information such as crime stats, unemployment numbers and much more to the Prime Minister. Mr. Cameron is a full-on Apple fan. Last year he described how he uses his iMac, iPad and remote speakers to enjoy wireless music in his office. He told The Telegraph, "I'm very proud of the fact that I've got an iMac and I've got a speaker remotely linked without a wire which I did myself. I have all the music on the iMac. The cool thing is that I now control my iMac from the iPad, to play out through the speaker but I have to admit I had a little bit of help from someone in IT on that." Of course, Prime Minister Cameron isn't the only world leader to enjoy Apple hardware and software. The iPad is popular in Washington, DC, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
UK Gov wants opt-in system for adult material, imagine a boot stamping on a trackpad, forever
Looks like Prime Minister David Cameron's not content with just shuttering the internet during social unrest (whilst condemning others who do the same). He's declared that four of the UK's biggest ISPs have entered into an opt-in system for adult material. The move is backed by the Mothers Union but has been flatly denied by the ISPs, who insist they're offering McAfee parental controls with new signups rather than Government-level web filtering. (Probably a massive let down to those eagerly waiting to delegate their parental responsibilities.) Of course, given the flaky nature of web filtering, any sanguine word that contained an expletive (the word "arsenal", for example) could be impossible to access until you had an awkward conversation with someone over the phone.
UK teen arrested for illegal BBM, social media crackdown gains steam
Lending further gravity to the proposed crackdown being bandied about in British parliament, an Essex teen has been arrested for sending a BBM that ran afoul of the Serious Crime Act of 2007. The 18-year old, now free on bail, allegedly used the service to encourage copycat attacks of the violent rioting that's swept London, and is set to appear in court on September 1st. It's the second known case to put RIM's private messaging service -- "popular among urban teenagers" as a cheap texting alternative -- in the UK's legal hotseat. For its part, the Canadian electronics maker has since reached out to police, promising to aid the investigation "in any way [it] can." Although no decision has yet been made to extend law enforcement's powers over social media services, such as Twitter and Facebook, arrests like these seem to indicate a murky free speech future.
UK Prime Minister exploring social media crackdown in wake of London riots (video)
As Londoners continue to pick up the rubble and carnage from this week's riots, UK Prime Minister David Cameron is exploring new ways to maintain order -- including, apparently, a government crackdown on social media. In a speech to members of Parliament today, Cameron made clear his belief that law enforcement officials should be able to curb and monitor the use of social networking sites under certain circumstances, lending credence to the theory that mechanisms like Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry played a critical role in inciting the recent violence: "Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill. And when people are using social media for violence we need to stop them. So we are working with the Police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality." There's a fine line separating issues of national security from the rights to free speech, but it's a line that Cameron seems willing to toe. And, though he and his Conservative government are only mulling the idea, it's difficult to ignore the irony in his statements. Keep in mind that this is the same man who roundly condemned Hosni Mubarak for shutting down Egypt's internet at the height of its revolution, calling for the now-ousted leader to fully respect the "freedom of expression and communication, including use of telephones and the internet." Cameron, of course, isn't calling for anything nearly as drastic as what Mubarak orchestrated, nor is he facing anywhere near the same level of domestic turmoil. But the fundamental narrative remains the same: in the face of social upheaval, a national leader instinctively reaches for a digital muzzle as a stop-gap measure, while (perhaps) ignoring the larger, longer-term ramifications of his actions. Fortunately for the UK, though, Cameron is already doing one thing that Mubarak apparently never did -- he's thinking about right and wrong. Head past the break to see Cameron's speech, in its entirety.
UK charity opens gaming visitor center / gaming gadget incubator for the disabled
Disabled gamers currently form a small, but growing portion of the gaming community, and the folks from the UK's SpecialEffect video games charity are seeking to get a lot more of them gaming. SpecialEffect -- with an assist from UK Prime Minister David Cameron -- just opened a Video Games Visitor Centre to give those with disabilities a place to experience cutting-edge gaming tech designed for the disabled, like eye-controllers, in its GamesRoom. The Centre also has a GamesLab where "games and hardware are tested for accessibility" so game devs can adjust their wares to get even more people dishing out pwnage than ever before -- bring it on!
Macs popular with UK Prime Minister David Cameron
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, UK Prime Minister David Cameron described (among other things) his personal love of Apple's Macs, iPad and digital music: "I'm very proud of the fact that I've got an iMac and I've got a speaker remotely linked without a wire which I did myself. I have all the music on the iMac. The cool thing is that I now control my iMac from the iPad, to play out through the speaker but I have to admit I had a little bit of help from someone in IT on that. I bought the iMac for Samantha [his wife] because it's very important not to use my HoC computer for music. The best thing to do is to put all your music on to the iMac, and then you can sync iPods and iPads with it." We've recently learned that iPads are popular with leaders in Washington, DC, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and elsewhere. What will be most newsworthy is when these sightings aren't news; just another person with his/her computer. [Via Mac Stories]
UK election campaign spills over into 3D Dot Game Heroes
If you're in the UK and are having a hard time getting a handle on the upcoming general election, perhaps seeing how the three party leaders perform as blocky, giant-sword-wielding heroes will help your decision-making. SouthPeak has added downloadable 3D Dot Game Heroes characters based on party leaders Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. (Perhaps Southpeak is semi-overtly referring to the UK's top politicians as blockheads?) The downloadable politicians are accessible from the "Vault" section of the 3D Dot Game Heroes EU website, which is also home to the web-based character editor. For those of you outside of the UK, there are three new "Guy in a Suit" characters on the site. 3D Dot Game Heroes will be released in Europe on May 14 and in North America on May 11.
