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@EpochTimes

Mar 24

THREAD 🧵
British chat forums are shutting themselves down rather than face regulatory burdens recently applied to internet policing laws.

On March 17, the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, a law that regulates internet spaces, officially kicked into force.

The law means that online platforms must immediately start putting in place measures to protect people in the UK from criminal activity with far-reaching implications for the internet.

However, for some forums—from cyclists, hobbyists, and hamster owners, to divorced father support and more—the regulatory pressure is proving too much, and its myriad of rules are causing chat forums that have been operating for decades, in some cases, to call it a day.

Conservative Peer Lord Daniel Moylan told The Epoch Times by email that “common sense suggests the sites least likely to survive will be hobby sites, community sites, and the like.”

‘Small But Risky Services’

The Act—which was celebrated as the world-first online safety law—was designed to ensure that tech companies take more responsibility for the safety of their users.

For example, social media platforms, including user-to-user service providers, have the duty to proactively police harmful illegal content such as revenge and extreme pornography, sex trafficking, harassment, coercive or controlling behavior, and cyberstalking.

But what the government calls “small but risky services” which are often forums, have to submit illegal harms risk assessments to the Online Safety Act’s regulator, Ofcom, by March 31.

Ofcom first published its illegal harm codes of practice and guidance in December 2024 and had given providers three months to carry out the assignment.

It was given powers under the law and warned that those who fail to do so may face enforcement action.

“We have strong enforcement powers at our disposal, including being able to issue fines of up to 10 percent of turnover or £18 million ($23 million)—whichever is greater—or to apply to a court to block a site in the UK in the most serious cases,” said Ofcom.

Some of the rules for owners of these sites—which are often operated by individuals —include keeping written records of their risk assessments, detailing levels of risk, and assessing the “nature and severity of potential harm to individuals.”

While terrorism and child sexual exploitation may be more straightforward to assess and mitigate, offenses such as coercive and controlling behavior and hate offenses are more challenging to manage with forums that have thousands of users.

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@EpochTimes

Mar 21

THREAD 🧵 Does gaming change the brain?

Gamers total 71 percent of the U.S. population and, on average, spend at least one month per year gaming. How does this affect emotions, cognition, and senses?

Research from over 90 medical reports highlights the impact on 15+ parts of the brain, as shown in this infographic:

From the Atari 2600 to the PS5, from Zelda to Fortnight, from mobile app games to gaming PCs, billions of players worldwide engage in gaming.

First, here's a quick breakdown of game design.

Game design incorporates three major strategies to keep players hooked:

1. Game Juice
The color, touch, and sound effects that are designed to sync with the brain’s inherent set of rules give players a rewarding sense of control over in-game changes, tricking the brain into perceiving the game world as both real and charming.

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Mar 18

Looking back: As the JFK files are being released, here’s a dive into some of our relevant stories on JFK, in a thread 🧵.

Interview With Key Witness Ruth Paine (Commentary)
theepochtim.es/23c49x

A personal journey of investigating what really happened in Dallas and the surprising road it went down.
theepochtim.es/ym69xa

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The Epoch Times

@EpochTimes

Oct 18, 2024

Here’s where Trump and Harris stand on key issues this election.

Our MEGA-🧵 covers:

- Economy
- Taxes
- Governance
- Health Care
- Education
- Border & Immigration
- Manufacturing & Workers
- Housing
- Energy & Environment
- Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice
- 2nd Amendment
- Military
- Foreign Affairs & Ukraine, Israel Wars
- China

Economy TLDR:

Harris: Her “opportunity economy” prioritizes support for the middle-class and boosting small businesses while also increasing taxes on the wealthy.

Trump: Focuses on increasing energy production and cutting government spending to bring down inflation, while reducing taxes to stimulate economic growth.

FULL LIST:

HARRIS
- Calls for an “opportunity economy” focused on the middle class.
- Proposes a federal ban on corporate price gouging on food and groceries to tackle inflation.
- Pledges to lower prescription drug costs by “taking on pharmacy middlemen” who profit from higher consumer costs.
- Suggests strengthening Social Security and Medicare by increasing taxes on the rich.
- Calls for raising the minimum wage.
- Vows not to interfere with the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions.
- Calls for increasing tax deductions on small-business startups from $5,000 to $50,000 to boost new business applications and innovation.
- Promises to build on the Biden administration's efforts to revive American manufacturing and jobs.
- Proposes an “opportunity agenda for Black men” that includes forgivable business loans, better regulations for cryptocurrency, and legalizing recreational marijuana.

TRUMP
- Pledges to reduce inflation by increasing American energy production, cutting wasteful government spending, and preventing illegal immigration.
- Seeks to lower commodity prices by ending global wars.
- Promises no cuts to Social Security and Medicare, including no changes to the retirement age.
- “Strongly” feels presidents “should have at least a say” in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions.
- Wants to maintain the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency.
- Supports the use of cryptocurrencies and opposes the creation of a central bank digital currency.
- Promises to bring crucial supply chains back to the United States and sign fair and reciprocal trade deals.
- Pledges to reverse “the electric vehicle mandate” by canceling the Biden administration’s rule on automobile emissions.
- Proposes tariffs of at least 60 percent on Chinese imports and a 10 percent universal tariff on all imported goods.
- Proposes setting a "temporary cap on credit-card interest rates" at roughly 10 percent.

Taxes TLDR:

Harris: Supports tax cuts for the middle class, expanded child tax credits of up to $3,600, increased taxes on wealthy individuals, and the elimination of taxes on tips.

Trump: Seeks to reduce corporate taxes, maintain lower individual taxes, and permanently expand the child tax credit of $2,000, as well as eliminate the tax on tips and overtime pay for workers.

FULL LIST:

HARRIS
- Plans to cut taxes for middle-class Americans by restoring the earned income tax credit.
- Seeks to reinstate the COVID-19-era increase in the child tax credit to a maximum of $3,600 per child, which is currently at $2,000, and proposes a one-time tax cut of $6,000 for families with newborns.
- Pledges no tax hikes for people earning less than $400,000 a year.
- Proposes raising top individual income tax rate to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for single filers and $450,000 for joint filers.
- States she wants to roll back the Trump administration’s corporate tax cuts, increasing the top rate from 21 to 28 percent.
- Plans to tax long-term capital gains at 28 percent for those earning more than $1 million a year.
- Proposes a 25 percent unrealized capital gains tax for individuals with a net worth greater than $100 million.
- Pledges to eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.

TRUMP
- Promises to make permanent the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).
- Seeks to make permanent the expanded child tax credit introduced in the TCJA, which raised the maximum benefit from $1,000 to $2,000 for each child under 17.
- Says he wants to cut the corporate tax rate from 21 to 15 percent.
- Pledges to eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.
- Vows to end taxes on overtime pay for workers.

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@EpochTimes

Jul 15, 2024

THREAD: A Breakdown of the Assassination Attempt Against Trump

A detailed look at how events unfolded when a shooter tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.

Former President Donald Trump was hustled off the stage with a bloodied face after a bullet pierced his ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Authorities are now investigating what they’ve called an assassination attempt.

The attack marked the first shooting of a U.S. president or presidential candidate since President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt in 1981.

Here’s a timeline of what happened at the shooting that led to the death of one rally-goer, with two more sustaining serious injuries.

6:02 p.m. —Trump Takes the Stage
Former President Trump takes to the stage to the tune of “God Bless the USA,” waving to the crowd under the scorching sun.

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The Epoch Times

@EpochTimes

Oct 1, 2023

🔻SPECIAL REPORT🔻

Parents, Teachers Start Winning Court Battles Against Secret Gender Transition Policies

👇THREAD 🔖 Bookmark this post to come back to it later

A revolt against government policies that many say usurp parental authority is spreading across the nation—especially in blue states where lawmakers have promoted transgender ideology and "gender-affirming care"—according to parents, attorneys, and teachers.theepochtimes.com/article/parent…

For more than a year, #California parents have shown up in droves at legislative hearings and phoned in by the hundreds to protest policies that encourage schools to keep social gender transitions of children secret.

Teachers also have begun to refuse to hide information about a child's gender identity from parents.

Meanwhile, Democratic members of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus have spearheaded legislation supporting so-called gender-affirming care, especially for children, touting it as a “first-in-the-nation” model.

Parental rights groups such as Our Duty have pushed back against the model, while groups such as Planned Parenthood, Equality California, and others support it.

California school districts claim that they’re required by law to keep gender transitions secret from parents unless a child wants to tell his or her parents.

But recent court rulings tell a different story.

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