Announcement Disabling Direct Messages in the forums

[SHaines]

Hey folks,

As a result of recent changes within the UK Online Safety Act, we're going to be disabling direct messages between members of the forum. You'll still be able to contact our Administrators and our Moderators to address issues or raise concerns, but posts between regular community members will be permanently disabled today. Direct messages have primarily always been to moderators or admin, so we don't anticipate this having a substantial impact on the forum.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause for members of the community and appreciate your patience as we adapt to keep in line with the law with the least impact on your experience.

Thanks very much!

 

[Red Rick]

Does this affect already existing conversations?

 

[SHaines]

Does this affect already existing conversations?

Yes. All discussions between individual members have been disabled. Mods and Admin can still directly message everyone and everyone can still message Mods and Admin, but that's the extent of it going forward, unfortunately.

 

[RedheadDane]

Uhm... and how are we supposed to send our teams to Skidmark - who is not a mod - for the main CQ game?
Yeah, let's destroy year's of fun...

And what harm does it do if some people are able to have a conversation that doesn't involve everyone?
NO harm! That's the answer.

 

[Netserk]

Uhm... and how are we supposed to send our teams to Skidmark - who is not a mod - for the main CQ game?
Yeah, let's destroy year's of fun...

And what harm does it do if some people are able to have a conversation that doesn't involve everyone?
NO harm! That's the answer.

Post an encrypted message with your team.

 

[RedheadDane]

Post an encrypted message with your team.

Naah.. let @SHaines answer the question himself.

 

[red_flanders]

A bit frustrating to hear from a user POV, I do like to occasionally ping other members.

Interesting that (at this time at least) no other forums in which I participate have made such a move. I guess everyone's liability and exposure are different, or evaluated differently.

 

[Netserk]

In case the law gets repealed or modified later on, will functions such as this one which will only be altered to comply with the regulations be restored once allowed again?

 

[RedheadDane]

Direct messages have primarily always been to moderators or admin,

NO!

 

[RedheadDane]

That's a question to the buffoons in Westminster who wrote and passed the law, not to the admins.

How would being able to post direct messages on an online forum affect online safety?
It doesn't. That's the answer.

 

[Sciatic]

Of all the problematic privacy issues this seems like a strange one to target. Is this (for Britain) supposed to prevent harassment via DMs on social media sites? Can’t folks turn off their own DMs if that is a problem? Sorry if I’m not understanding the full context here.

 

[Netserk]

Spoiler: DM to [USER=11940]@RedheadDane[/USER]

How would being able to post direct messages on an online forum affect online safety?
It doesn't. That's the answer.

The name is not the law.
The text is not the law.
The enforcement is the law.

Oops! We ran into some problems.
Direct messaging between members is disabled on this forum. However, you can still contact any of the listed Admins or Moderators directly, or use the Report function if assistance is needed: Armchair Cyclist, Cookster15, CParsons, SHaines, MKnott

 

[E_F_]

Yeah, this is honestly quite sad...

 

[Tim Cahill]

 

[RedheadDane]

What about if people decide to meet up IRL?
Wouldn't it:

1. Be much safer for the people involved if they're... well... the only ones able to see potentially sensitive information?
2. Be much less annoying for everyone else to not have to read through that conversation?

Spoiler: DM to [USER=11940]@RedheadDane[/USER]

The name is not the law.
The text is not the law.
The enforcement is the law.

Not sure what you're trying to say. Let @CParsons and @SHaines explain themselves.

Yeah, this is honestly quite sad...

You spelled "infuriating" wrong.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Uhm... and how are we supposed to send our teams to Skidmark - who is not a mod - for the main CQ game?
Yeah, let's destroy year's of fun...

I raised this issue as soon as we were notified this was going to happen; @skidmark was given advance notice and has already started looking at possibilities. He did not seem panicked at the idea, and is confident that a workaround can be found.

 

[AmRacer]

If I open a thread and could select who can read and reply....

 

[RedheadDane]

and is confident that a workaround can be found.

Just annoying having to find a workaround when the way we had worked perfectly.
There's also @Samu Cuenca's Emerging Women game.

Did they explain to you how direct messaging limits online safety?

Sorry, I'm just annoyed - and do not understand - why a silly law in one country should affect an international forum like this.
Just... move the servers to Denmark! We do have somewhat of a presense on this forum after all.

 

[E_F_]

Videoen er ikke tilgængelig
I denne video er der indhold fra LDS, som har blokeret den i dit land af ophavsretslige årsager

lol

 

[Tim Cahill]

lol

Restrictive Danish Copyright Laws!

Having said that at least you’re allowed to send someone a direct message on an internet forum without Peter Kyle heading onto twitter and implying you’re a paedophile.

 

[E_F_]

What about if people decide to meet up IRL?

An Aarhus-meetup does potentially sound quite fun... At the very least we need to do something for the time-trials at Worlds in 2029 lmao

 

[E_F_]

Restrictive Danish Copyright Laws!

But what does that have to do with the Latter Day Saints!?

 

[RedheadDane]

An Aarhus-meetup does potentially sound quite fun... At the very least we need to do something for the time-trials at Worlds in 2029 lmao

Guess we'll have to use smoke signals to plan...

And TBF, with my aversion to crowds, I'm probably just going to stay home, even if the race is close to where I live.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Although I am a moderator, I do not speak on behalf of the admins, and although I have known this for a couple of days, I had no say and no more explanation than any of the rest of you.

To draw an assumption from this article, the forum has no means of age verification, and therefore must act as though any or all members might be U-18, and is operating on that basis. I very much doubt that any of us are of such tender years: I also understand the publishers being cautious in the face of potential penalties of 10% of turnover.

What are the new UK online safety rules and how will age checks on adult content be enforced?

From 25 July websites and apps will be required to protect children by filtering out harmful content and verifying ages

www.theguardian.com

 

[Red Rick]

Guess we'll have to use smoke signals to plan...

And TBF, with my aversion to crowds, I'm probably just going to stay home, even if the race is close to where I live.

Wait that doesn't happen already? I've been feeling left out seeing flares of Capo Berta every Sanremo