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Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

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Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#121

Post by TeMPOraL »

walrus01 wrote: post #115
TeMPOraL wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also worth remembering that this kind of equipment, beyond being available to militaries, is also routinely in use by governments everywhere to enforce local RF regulations. Even in times of perfect calm, if you start illegally transmitting and disrupting legit radio activity, you can expect the local equivalent of FCC to quickly track you down.

Ku and mid ka, high ka band spectrum analyzers are no longer a $40,000 item anymore. I'm pretty confident I could put together a (starlink, kuiper, oneweb) locating kit for under $10k USD. The knowledge to run a spectrum analyzer just to locate on class of equipment could be taught to any moderately educated local police in one day.

Not much is using these bands anyway, especially in places like Iraq. Wouldn't it be even simpler to skip the spectrum analyzer and sweep the area with high-gain antennas tuned for these bands, the fox-hunting way?

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#122

Post by yorwba »

I recall reading somewhere that internet shutdowns during protests are usually counterproductive. People who were previously only voicing their frustration online or passing the time with entertainment are suddenly left with a lot of free time on their hands. While a shutdown can prevent coordination on the national scale, it can't stop people from taking to the streets and organizing spontaneously.

EDIT: Found my source: https://www.iafrikan.com/2019/05/06/shutting-down-social-med...

"Under a blackout, each successive day of protest had more violence than would typically happen as a protest unfolded with continued internet access. Meanwhile, the effects of shutdowns on peaceful demonstrations, which are usually more likely to rely on careful coordination through digital channels, were ambiguous and inconsistent. In no scenario were blackouts consistently linked to reduced levels of protest over the course of several days. Instead of curtailing protest, they seemed to encourage a tactical shift to strategies that are less orderly, more chaotic and more violent."

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#123

Post by astronautjones »

throwaway66920 wrote: post #104
Maultasche wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The initial government was pro-American, but the consequence of pushing a country to have democratic elections is that they sometimes elect people that you don't like. When you want a country to be free and democratic, you can't also tell them who to elect. You have to choose one or the other. The United States has often chosen the latter while pretending to want the former, but at least with Iraq they seem to be mos…

But the people are now protesting the Iranian favoring government?

useful quick watch:

https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2019/10/ira...

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#124

Post by JohnFen »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #102
markovbot wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deploying and maintaining radio jamming devices is _way_ more difficult and expensive than telling an ISP to shut down service.

Depends on the frequencies and types of antennas used. Doesn't take much to disrupt a radio-based service (people do this by accident, that's why RF regulations exist everywhere). It's not that much of an expense for a government to set up a few antennas and make them put out half a megawatt of noise each.

> Doesn't take much to disrupt a radio-based service

Particularly satellite signals, because they're very weak to begin with.

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#125

Post by JohnFen »

walrus01 wrote: post #103
markovbot wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deploying and maintaining radio jamming devices is _way_ more difficult and expensive than telling an ISP to shut down service.

Nobody needs to jam anything, a starlink cpe needs to transmit. Try to operate one in xinjiang province, for instance, men with portable spectrum analyzers and guns will come to take it away and arrest you. With a horn antenna tuned to the right band and a portable spectrum analyzer, finding a starlink, kuiper or oneweb cpe will not be technically difficult.

True, but jamming is even easier (and cheaper) -- particularly if you aren't especially concerned about incidentally jamming nearby frequencies.

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#126

Post by astronautjones »

ivalm wrote: post #90
heyiforgotmypwd wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Democratic" is a duplicitous, ambiguous word: - to the people, it means a government that is less corrupt and more accountable to do the people's work; a semi-meritocracy. - in diplomatic circles, it means whatever Americans and their rich owner-class want. There aren't very many democratic countries allowed; they're usually small and don't have a resource curse.

Iraq is an example of country with government that "Americans and their rich owner-class" definitely didn't want. It's democratic in the actual sense of the word: -- It's a government that got majority of the vote. This has little to do with corruption/accountability, iraqis tend to vote along sectarian lines. There are more shia, they are better organized, they win.

the shia are also protesting fwiw

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/iraqi-police-open-fir...

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#127

Post by baddox »

Maultasche wrote: post #80
yongjik wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, didn't America wage a war to install a pro-American government in Iraq? Are they somehow pro-American and pro-Iran at the same time, or did they switch alliances while nobody in the west was paying attention?

The initial government was pro-American, but the consequence of pushing a country to have democratic elections is that they sometimes elect people that you don't like. When you want a country to be free and democratic, you can't also tell them who to elect. You have to choose one or the other. The United States has often chosen the latter while pretending to want the former, but at least with Iraq they seem to be mos…

> The United States has often chosen the latter

Seems like it's usually a government that's popular with its people that gets overthrown and replaced by a "democratic" government.

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#128

Post by TeMPOraL »

JohnFen wrote: post #124
TeMPOraL wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the frequencies and types of antennas used. Doesn't take much to disrupt a radio-based service (people do this by accident, that's why RF regulations exist everywhere). It's not that much of an expense for a government to set up a few antennas and make them put out half a megawatt of noise each.

> Doesn't take much to disrupt a radio-based service Particularly satellite signals, because they're very weak to begin with.

Indeed. High-gain antennas and some math trickery can compensate a bit (see e.g. GPS and its below thermal noise floor signals), but I don't think a commercial transceiver could in any way win with a 50kW signal on a broadcast antenna turned jammer on a nearby hilltop.

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#129

Post by parsimo2010 »

GhettoMaestro wrote: post #111
Ahmed90 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half these Pro-Americans used to hide in Iran before the war, America got outplayed when it comes to the Iraqi government lol

As an American, I am curious to hear more about how we were "outplayed" re the Iraqi Gov. Thanks in advance.

1. USA ousts Saddam Hussein, and is obligated to help Iraq transition to a democratic government (because they invasion was done under the pretext of liberating a country from a mad dictator with weapons of mass destruction, instead of the commonly cited argument of securing resources for the American empire).

2. USA backs a candidate and initially gets a government elected that is favorable to the USA. However, these politicians turn out to be kind of scummy and screw up just about everything.

3. Iran realizes that elections can be influenced (they watched the USA influence the first election), and having lots of paramilitary type forces that are trained in information operations, decides to capitalize. They flood across the porous border to spread propaganda (the current scumbags in government make it so the Iranian propaganda doesn't even have to lie, it just has to point out how much the current guys suck).

4. Iraqi citizens, growing sick of the crappy politicians they elected initially, start listening to the propaganda and elect a government friendly to Iran. This is the first time this has happened in a long time, Iraq has not been allies with Iran for several decades.

5. End result- USA invades, eventually loses influence to Iran. The global hegemony USA got outplayed by a regional hegemony because they backed unethical and incompetent sellouts rather than finding a good candidate.

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#130

Post by munk-a »

yongjik wrote: post #55
Ahmed90 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the government is backed by Iran (puppet) and it's fully corrupt?

Wait, didn't America wage a war to install a pro-American government in Iraq? Are they somehow pro-American and pro-Iran at the same time, or did they switch alliances while nobody in the west was paying attention?

On the ground it might be more helpful to think of Pro-Saudi vs. Pro-Iran rather than involving America directly - those two political hegemonies are much more relevant to locals.
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