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Russia restricts opposition election voting app

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Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#151

Post by cjonas »

kaladin-jasnah wrote: post #139
lrem wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 wh…

My wife and I actually experience something similar that had a real impact on our social life's. Android and group iMessage do not play nice. The groups get "sharded" for seemly no reason. As a result, our friends stop added us to group messages and we were no longer in the loop for social gathering and "causal banter".

One of those instances where if I had an iphone, I actually think I would have developed closer relationship in the group. It's very off-putting to think about the impact of brand choice.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#152

Post by Andrew_nenakhov »

neonbones wrote: post #145
Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

They asked, but before this situation, there were no serious reasons for that. But a few days ago, the Navalny organization (FBK) was declared by the court to the status of an extremist organization. They just put the opposition on one list with terrorist organizations like ISIS and the Taliban. For now, Google and Apple ban "another dangerous organization," not political opposition. Google and Apple already censor a…

> They asked

I actually researched it. All sources that every story about 'they asked' cited in the end pointed to RosKomNadzor press release on their own website. And it is very well known that Russian government never lies.

There were no public confirmation from either Google or Apple that they did receive such request and refused to act on it, like they earlier did on LinkedIn.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#153

Post by nightwing »

lotusmars wrote: post #42
hkai wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Americans can ban their own opposition from their internet (Parler, Gab, and countless people blocked on mainstream platforms), then it's very hard to argue that the authoritarian Russian government shouldn't ban their opposition from the internet. Perhaps some on-chain solutions will help circumvent the American and Russian restrictions in a few years. Solana sounds like a good candidate for this sort of platform…

Why do you always bring up America when we're talking about injustices in other countries? As a Russian, it pisses me off. It's like saying "black people shouldn't moan, because white people suffer too".

In this particular case it is very relevant, because Navalny himself was warning [1] that it is a dangerous precedent which is going to help the enemies of freedom everywhere. And he was absolutely right.

[1] https://twitter.com/navalny/status/1347960298569928704

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#154

Post by aasasd »

rtkwe wrote: post #118
542458 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

> and block you

You mean like Roskomnadzor has already tried to do to Telegram, and failed?

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#155

Post by nightwing »

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.

Don't you remember people from Google saying that it should not be broken up to be able to prevent "next Trump situation"?

https://www.facebook.com/ProjectVeritas/videos/2445258202376...

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#156

Post by ookdatnog »

swayvil wrote: post #133
ookdatnog wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 d…

My wording was a bit careless in my previous post: I didn't distinguish between censorship and free speech violations. If YouTube deletes your video for violating ToS, that can be called censorship (in the same way that a forum moderator removing your post can be called censorship), but it's not infringing on your right to free speech.

This is because your right to free speech doesn't entail a right to any particular platform or channel. Others, including the government, are in no way obligated to help you broadcast your speech.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#157

Post by aasasd »

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.

Is there a name for this technique, or a thorough description of it somewhere? So that I could put it in my bookmarks & notes.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#158

Post by cma »

cjonas wrote: post #151
kaladin-jasnah wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 wh…

My wife and I actually experience something similar that had a real impact on our social life's. Android and group iMessage do not play nice. The groups get "sharded" for seemly no reason. As a result, our friends stop added us to group messages and we were no longer in the loop for social gathering and "causal banter". One of those instances where if I had an iphone, I actually think I would have developed closer re…

Wait until AR glasses are big, where it I'll start happening in person. Can't see the object everyone is pointing to, manipulating, and talking about? Wrong brand.

Since black people have Android more often, Apple is basically bringing back segregation.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#159

Post by DaftDank »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #77
pentae wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why people have such a hard time believing this. A 50 cent army to steer social media opinions is certainly a lot cheaper than aircraft carriers

It's sneaky. It's against site rules to make the accusation because it's usually impossible to confirm but it is absolutely a tactic used by foreign powers. https://www.state.gov/russias-pillars-of-disinformation-and-...

Thanks for that link. I had read parts of the Mueller report before, and learned some of the TTP's that the Russians used during the 2016 campaign/election, but this lays it out more clearly.

Re: Russia restricts opposition election voting app

#160

Post by cma »

ookdatnog wrote: post #31
hkai wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Americans can ban their own opposition from their internet (Parler, Gab, and countless people blocked on mainstream platforms), then it's very hard to argue that the authoritarian Russian government shouldn't ban their opposition from the internet. Perhaps some on-chain solutions will help circumvent the American and Russian restrictions in a few years. Solana sounds like a good candidate for this sort of platform…

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.

That effectively means they are banned from having notifications on iOS.
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