Farangland News

EU governments might soon implement messaging surveillance, euphemistically labelled as chat control, based on a new proposal by Belgium's Minister of the Interior. According to a leak obtained by Pirate Party MEP and shadow rapporteur Patrick Breyer , this could happen as early as June.

The proposal mandates that users of communication apps must agree to have all images and videos they send automatically scanned and potentially reported to the EU and police.

This agreement would be obtained through terms and conditions or pop-up messages. To facilitate this, secure end-to-end encrypted messenger services would need to implement monitoring backdoors, effectively causing a ban on private messaging. The Belgian proposal frames this as upload moderation, claiming it differs from client-side scanning. Users who refuse to consent would still be able to send text messages but would be barred from sharing images and videos.

The proposal first introduced on 8 May, has surprisingly gained support from several governments that were initially critical. It will be revisited on 24 May, and EU interior ministers are set to meet immediately following the European elections to potentially approve the legislation.

Britain's biggest pub chain is charging drinkers more at the busiest times with dynamic surcharges that make a pint of beer more expensive on the weekend.

Stonegate Group, the largest pub company in the UK, is upping the price of a pint when its venues are busiest with claims that this will help cover the cost of washing glasses, extra staff, supplying plastic cups and putting bouncers on the door.

The chain has introduced so-called dynamic pricing at some 800 sites across the country, hitting drinkers with higher prices when footfall is high.

The firm, which operates over 4,500 licensed businesses, initially brought in additional charges during major sports tournaments like the Fifa World Cup in 2018 and 2022, but has since made them permanent during peak trading.

Prices were previously increased by as much as £1 at the time, according to reports. Stonegate did not disclose how much current prices can vary, but the manager of the Coach House in central London, a Stonegate pub, said its dynamic pricing system meant the cost of a pint of beer was 20p more expensive on weekends.

Australian gambling venues are planning to install facial recognition technology in all pubs and clubs in the state of New South Wales. The technology is supposedly aimed at keeping people with self-imposed gambling bans from gambling.

The ClubsNSW and the Australian Hotels Association NSW said a facial recognition surveillance system will be installed in all hotels and clubs in NSW next year. The system will scan the faces of everyone entering the gaming area and check them against a list of people who have registered in the self-exclusion system.

Close to 100 clubs are already using this technology and the feedback is that it works, said ClubsNSW CEO Josh Landis.

Greens MP Cate Faehrmann criticized the move:

The NSW government has lost its mind if it thinks people want pubs and clubs to have self-managed facial recognition tech. This is as terrifying as it is absurd.

News emerged on social media to the effect that British Airways would be extending its longstanding suspension of its London-Bangkok route until 2023.

Until now the official suspension date had been until October 2022. This seemed logical as the peak season for travel to Thailand is during the winter months.

The only direct option from London Heathrow is currently Thai Airways. Eva Air's fifth-freedom service remains suspended according to its website display.