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Russia restricts opposition election voting app

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Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#131

Post by jsn »

vbezhenar wrote: post #120
jsn wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

Not as of yet. Actually, if you use tor (with out-of-Russia exit nodes, which I think is the default when using it from Russia?), you can already freely access all the sites blocked in Russia, non-onion ones. But, obviously, tor and VPNs are good solutions only for people willing to go an extra mile to get to the prohibited content.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#132

Post by maccard »

patrakov wrote: post #47
maccard wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So is this app using some other protocols that aren't DNS/http(s) that would make it immune to a dns level block? Because a native app that makes http calls is just as easy to block as a pwa

The app uses the same technology as some trojans: it connects to different pseudorandomly-generated domain names under Cloudflare protection, changing at least several times per day.

The client still needs to receive those domains somehow though, and that's the tricky bit. Unless the domains are unique per user, the blocker can just install the app and block the domains as they change.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#133

Post by swayvil »

ookdatnog wrote: post #105
belorn wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me the negative aspects of censorship is not exclusive to governments. It is any censorship when it comes from the powerful controlling the powerless in order to maintain that power relationship. Government vs citizen is one form of power relation, but so is dominating market holder vs user. A third is infrastructure vs user. Apple has decided to hold the power of being the gatekeeper of mobile apps. Every time th…

I'm not disagreeing that there are megacorporations which wield too much power. I don't believe it's a good thing that Apple can decide what software you can run on the device you bought, and I don't think the often used security argument is sufficient justification. It would be better if there were other legal ways to install software on iDevices. But if there are other ways to install software, I don't really have…

If that platform was owned by the government, or in the public domain. Or not owned by anybody, like the space around our planet. Then such shenanigans would definitely be called censorship and a violation.

But because it's privately owned, it isn't.

The way it hinges on who's name is on the receipt. Which is just a legal artifact. Seems unrealistic.

I mean, the more realistic take is : yes, our whole population is definitely using it to communicate. Before that solid fact any mere legalism is insubstantial.

And when you look at it that way it follows that there is definitely a snake in the cradle.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#134

Post by jhgb »

selivanovp wrote: post #72

I find some comments in this section quite funny. Russia was blamed with USA elections rigging because someone payed for facebook ads to promote one of the candidates. In this case we have every evidence, that a group of people, financed by foreign organizations, created multiple apps, websites and other sources to manipulate people voices. Wake up guys, such activity should and will be banned in every country.

> such activity should and will be banned in every country.

You're delusional if you believe that the current Russian government doesn't manipulate people's votes already. https://ruxpert.ru/images/3/3a/146%25.jpg

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#135

Post by neonbones »

paganel wrote: post #39
ookdatnog wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parler isn't banned from the internet, it's banned from AWS and mobile app stores. These bans weren't ordered by the government either.

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…

>The US is by definition an oligarchic state

Yep, I saw a few types of researches before. The US is, by all definitions, an oligarchy.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#136

Post by ghostwriter »

nbzso wrote: post #82
sgjohnson wrote: post #63

Considering Apple complied with this request, we can be absolutely 100% sure that they would never even consider complying with the request to abuse their “CSAM detection” system to find dissident content. I’m just so sure of it. They would never.

People will find a way to justify it. It is nothing new under the sun. Glances at 3310:)

https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

* I'm not affiliated with the product/company

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#137

Post by vasco »

benque wrote: post #14
vasco wrote: post #3

> On Friday, sources confirmed on background that at least one of the U.S.-based companies implementing the restriction felt compelled to comply for fear that local staff could face legal action upon receipt of a takedown order from the Russian Federation. Really making the world a better place. How hard would it be to have employees from outside the country make the app review, and shield local employees from this?…

What would prevent Russian authorities from taking action against local employees anyway? The buck stops at the government. The only options for private companies in these type of situations are: comply or exit.

I don't think it has to escalate as aggressively as you're making it out to be, and yet exiting is an option as we saw from Google's reaction to China's demands. So here we're just seeing what things they consider bad enough and my comment is that it was sad this wasn't bad enough for them to put their foot down.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#139

Post by kaladin-jasnah »

lrem wrote: post #119
smoldesu wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do people really fetishize the blue bubble this much?

What is "the blue bubble"?

Idiocy where people ridicule you for not having iMessage (and its features) because you have an Android phone and someone sends you messages on iMessage, it shows up as green for them, which creates a sense of inferiority in their eyes. (Android doesn't support iMessage unless you use something like AirMessage which requires a Mac, and iMessage to iMessage shows messages sent in blue, but SMS to iMessage, which is what Android users can use, shows a green message when iMessage users send messages).

It is a clever marketing ploy where Apple users make Android users feel bad for using a product because the colour of their messages is different.

Anecdotally (and randomly), I've seen "the blue bubble" can put additional pressure on males to get iPhones since "women use iPhones more, so I don't stand a chance if I have the green bubble."

I hate iMessage. Because of the blue bubble phenomenon, there are a lot of people in the US with iPhones just out of the need (pressure) to use iMessage. iPhones are ridiculously popular with American teenagers (probably over 90% usage in rich areas) and I've heard it isn't necessarily about iPhones being better. No, it is literally about iMessage and winning the social approval of their peers.

Since they have iMessage, suddenly you need to too. And so on.

I don't believe marketing or features or whatnot is what makes the iPhone popular. No, it is the crushing social pressure of iMessage.

F*ck iMessage.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#140

Post by jcranmer »

fhgan wrote: post #104
sanp wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free speech laws mean nothing of the sort. Free speech also (generally) includes freedom of association. AWS should be Free to not associate with entities who do not meet their stated TOS.

Supermarkets do not have freedom of association, which is a good thing. Artists and small businesses selling very personal custom services should have freedom of association, but that's it. What if no one wants to sell you a computer, car, house, food?

> Supermarkets do not have freedom of association, which is a good thing.

You're wrong; they do have freedom of association. They're free to choose whose products they do and do not carry, for example. They're also free to deny entrance to anybody for almost any reason (except for an enumerated class of prohibited reasons).

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