Russia restricts opposition election voting app • Hacker News Board

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#111

Post by paganel » Sun, Sep 19, 2021, 1:57 PM UTC

ookdatnog wrote: post #76

paganel wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was similar to self-censure from Amazon, that is if they wanted to still gain lucrative contracts with the military-industrial complex opposed by the candidate that they banned. To say nothing of the personal vendetta between the owner of Amazon and said candidate, the owner being the wealthyest man on Earth and directly controlling a big mouth-piece of the media (WashPo). The US is by definition an oligarchic sta…

> It was similar to self-censure from Amazon, that is if they wanted to still gain lucrative contracts with the military-industrial complex opposed by the candidate that they banned. Sounds like pure speculation.

It walks and quacks like self-censure in view of future monetary (and not only) gains.

Again, I'm surprised that almost no-one in here (to say nothing of the big media outlets) is not saying anything about the huge conflict of interest involving Bezos and the companies he owns and/or controls.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#112

Post by Andrew_nenakhov » Sun, Sep 19, 2021, 1:57 PM UTC

strogonoff wrote: post #61

baybal2 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a theory that Telegram is a Russian op, given that they still having office in Russia, which they are very secretive about, despite the claims of Durov being nearly chased by KGB on every corner.

Telegram had been banned by Russian authorities with a demand to disclose E2E encryption keys previously, then that ban was miraculously lifted last year. What is happening beneath the curtain is anyone’s guess. Setting aside any speculation as to whether they are in fact a state-backed covert operation, last time I checked it appeared to be a tiny company of undisclosed structure, which—while in a way glamorous/roma…

We now see that Apple and Google routinely remove apps by request of Russian government. How come Telegram was never removed? Maybe the russian government never really asked?

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#113

Post by smoldesu » Sun, Sep 19, 2021, 1:57 PM UTC

tinus_hn wrote: post #83

luxuryballs wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

glances at pre-order

Tell me, which alternatives are you considering?

I'll be getting rid of my Android device once the PinePhone is back in stock. I only ever use my phone for SMS, calls and maybe a flashlight here and there, so it should be a pretty comfortable transition.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#114

Post by nzmsv » Sun, Sep 19, 2021, 1:59 PM UTC

fredgrott wrote: post #89

belorn wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The belief among technologists that censorship is a good thing is relative recent, and there is still quite a large number of people who still think that all censorship is bad when it comes from the powerful deciding what the powerless can see and do. The group that is against censorship is likely still angry with companies like Facebook, twitter, apple, and it makes more sense that it is those people who continue to…

People are under the illusion that we have free speech ,we do not! We have LIMITED FREE POLITICAL SPEECH...big difference...the dark right prefers to lie to people and claim we have unfettered free speech.

I wonder if you'd still be using those big brave all caps if the tables were turned and you were the one being censored. It could happen, you know.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#115

Post by smoldesu » Sun, Sep 19, 2021, 2:02 PM UTC

lrem wrote: post #98

tinus_hn wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell me, which alternatives are you considering?

Alternatives to what exactly? A lot of people have reached the point of needing an iPhone. Nope, Android won't do, because it's not an iPhone. Too much friction and learning curve to ever use anything else than an iPhone. Game over.

Do people really fetishize the blue bubble this much?

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#116

Post by jhgb » Sun, Sep 19, 2021, 2:03 PM UTC

Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #110

leppr wrote: post #17

In this case there's not many reasons for it to be a native app instead of a Progressive Web App. This would simplify distribution. If the app is open source, it could also be hosted on F-droid (or just as an .apk on some website). These kind of situations are exactly why we fight against walled gardens and centralizatiom. It's not a problem until it is.

Navalny's website is also blocked in Russia, of course, so you won't be able to load that PWA. (Without VPN/)

Make it easily deployable so that it's found in many different places?

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#117

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Sep 19, 2021, 2:04 PM UTC

captainmuon wrote: post #80

sneak wrote: post #5

Apple is in no position whatsoever to fight governments. The amount of money and power they wield in the market and society is huge, but it doesn't even rank in competition to the power of the state. (For scale, the US, just a single country, has spent, only on the military, 4.3x the entire market cap of Apple ($2410B) since the iPhone was introduced.) They have to do whatever the CCP tells them to do, as they are co…

The latent power of big tech is incredible. Apple is so awash with cash, they could probably just stop doing business in a country without taking much damage. I don't know how big the russian market is for them - but for many countries smaller than that, they could dicate terms. Imagine the CEOs of a couple of tech companies meet for brunch, and decide to do something about human rights in order to feel good. So they…

[deleted]

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#118

Post by rtkwe » Sun, Sep 19, 2021, 2:04 PM UTC

542458 wrote: post #73

tandav wrote: post #10

- Google removes Navalny's team google document with "Smart Vote" instructions. - YouTube blocks videos with Smart Vote instructions. - Telegram blocks a bot with Smart Vote the instructions

I’m a bit surprised by the telegram one - I thought they were uncooperative enough with law enforcement to blow this off. Guess not?

That only works in so far as the government you're blowing off doesn't have the willingness to actually shut you down and block you or actively threaten your employees in the country (as reportedly happened to Google).

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#119

Post by lrem » Sun, Sep 19, 2021, 2:09 PM UTC

smoldesu wrote: post #115

lrem wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternatives to what exactly? A lot of people have reached the point of needing an iPhone. Nope, Android won't do, because it's not an iPhone. Too much friction and learning curve to ever use anything else than an iPhone. Game over.

Do people really fetishize the blue bubble this much?

What is "the blue bubble"?

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#120

Post by vbezhenar » Sun, Sep 19, 2021, 2:09 PM UTC

jsn wrote: post #22

leppr wrote: post #17

In this case there's not many reasons for it to be a native app instead of a Progressive Web App. This would simplify distribution. If the app is open source, it could also be hosted on F-droid (or just as an .apk on some website). These kind of situations are exactly why we fight against walled gardens and centralizatiom. It's not a problem until it is.

> In this case there's not many reasons for it to be a native app instead of a Progressive Web App. This would simplify distribution. The opposite of this is true. Blocking a web application is very easy for Russian authorities, there are well-established legal and technical protocols for that, it's a routine, it happens every day. The opposition uses apps precisely because they are more difficult to censor.

What about onion website? Can Russia already block Tor?