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Chinese Media Warn WeChat Admins: "You Can Be Arrested for Group Chat"

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11–20 of 182 posts

Re: Chinese Media Warn WeChat Admins: "You Can Be Arrested for Group Chat"

#11
This has already been happening in India under the current govt

Any Anti PM post gets the Whatsapp admin arrested under National Security Act!

Of course, there must be some stupid party supporter who probably had to file a case or something.

This will be worse as it'll be automatic as China MITM's everything

Re: Chinese Media Warn WeChat Admins: "You Can Be Arrested for Group Chat"

#12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know the government does not already have the root cert anyway

I hope some day we have RISCV phones where you can swap processors and all software is auditable.

Don’t hold your breath.

Re: Chinese Media Warn WeChat Admins: "You Can Be Arrested for Group Chat"

#13
post #2

This is why full end to end encryption is required.

See xkcd 538: https://xkcd.com/538/

There is a difference between "a random bureaucrat can read all my chats just by typing at the keyboard" and "a random bureaucrat must authorize and pay for someone to pay me a visit".

You don't encrypt everything to prevent the state actors from breaking it--if a state actor wants you bad enough they'll just fabricate what they need and arrest you. You encrypt everything to prevent random idiots (including those working for state actors) from getting at your stuff cheaply.

If it's expensive enough, there will always be lower hanging fruit to go after. I don't need to out run the hungry tiger; I simply need to out run somebody else being chased by the tiger.

Re: Chinese Media Warn WeChat Admins: "You Can Be Arrested for Group Chat"

#14
post #10
post #2

This is why full end to end encryption is required.

I think that’s naive. China can just arrest you for using encryption. Same result. (This isn’t limited to China - the US could have similar results with slightly differing laws)

Enter: steganography. Useful under totalitarian regimes, I would think.

Unlike the burden required to hide gigs required for large file transactions, hiding mere hundreds of bytes for textual conversations might be feasible. Maybe. Distribution of participating client software might be the problem.

Re: Chinese Media Warn WeChat Admins: "You Can Be Arrested for Group Chat"

#15
post #8
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know someone in the group chat isn't a spy for the government?

In that case you need to pay those spies, while at this moment you just run a database query.

You don’t need to pay neighbors to report one another. They’ll turn each other in over petty grievances, or the expectation of favored treatment by authorities. China’s social credit points seem like a potentially powerful incentive.

Examples from East Germany:

https://spiegel.de/international/germany/east-german-domesti...

Re: Chinese Media Warn WeChat Admins: "You Can Be Arrested for Group Chat"

#16

This has already been happening in India under the current govt Any Anti PM post gets the Whatsapp admin arrested under National Security Act! Of course, there must be some stupid party supporter who probably had to file a case or something. This will be worse as it'll be automatic as China MITM's everything

Pretty interesting comment. Let me see a reputable source which backs up 'anti pm message arrest under national security act'. I googled those and found just one arrest in a state which said

> Asked why Shinde had been suspended, Sharma said, “He has not been suspended just for the message. In the past, too, complaints were received against him for favouring certain political party person and showing political inclination. The WhatsApp message he posted is one of the reasons why he has been suspended.” Asked what exactly did he mean by showing political inclination, Sharma said, “I won’t be able to give all the details. But the past complaints and WhatsApp message are the reasons he has been suspended.”

source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/mumbai-const...

Re: Chinese Media Warn WeChat Admins: "You Can Be Arrested for Group Chat"

#18
post #9
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know someone in the group chat isn't a spy for the government?

WeChat groups are designed to be private (as opposed to being public, not necessarily to protect privacy). To join one you normally have to know either the admin or a member of the group. A QR code for public access is available but it's forced to expire in seven days. So for a regular sized group of a few dozen people, it's relatively easy to spot a stranger.

How do you know you can trust your friends?

Re: Chinese Media Warn WeChat Admins: "You Can Be Arrested for Group Chat"

#20
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that’s naive. China can just arrest you for using encryption. Same result. (This isn’t limited to China - the US could have similar results with slightly differing laws)

Enter: steganography. Useful under totalitarian regimes, I would think. Unlike the burden required to hide gigs required for large file transactions, hiding mere hundreds of bytes for textual conversations might be feasible. Maybe. Distribution of participating client software might be the problem.

When they discover that you have stenographic tools on your computer, how will they know when to stop torturing you?
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