91–100 of 220 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How does cutting off communications prevent terrorist cells from executing their planned attacks? The real reason is obviously that the ruling elite usurped and imprisoned Pakistan's most popular leader, which means the political situation is very volatile.
Bombs with mobile phones attached designed to trigger when the phone is called/texted?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As an idea, media moratoriums immediately prior to elections seems fairly sensible. AI and disinformation attacks are likely to be 'last minute'. Maybe the entire phone and Internet system is going a bit far. Also, obtaining broad consensus for just muting the main social media channels doesn't seem that unreasonable. My thought is, unless gunmen are showing up at polling stations, what exactly is so urgent to discus…
Some countries including my home country Poland impose a ban on political agitation on the election day. It means that no political content may be published on that day, but whatever has been published before that is allowed to stay. This is an old law which predates the Internet, so anything from social media posts to hanging up election posters is liable to be prosecuted and the authorities frequently do so. It's l…
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05...
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/11/media/uk-election-reporti...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, one of those two countries has a no-first-use nuclear doctrine, so I imagine there's a probability conditional there.
Doctrine is just a paper. It's not even constitution. It could be changed in a minute if necessary (or even post-factum or some sketchy justifications could be made up). It surprises me sometimes, how much value people put in some documents, disregarding those who can change or ignore those documents.
I don't think anyone seriously expects a nuclear state threatened with imminent destruction to forgo use of nuclear weapons (even in the presence of a non-first use statement). The question is how close to that condition does a state have to be in before it decides to use nuclear weapons. For the states with explicit non-first use policies, the expectation is that it is very close indeed. By contrast, Pakistan has effectively an explicit first use policy: it will resort to nuclear weapons very early in a war. The US has a particularly mealy-mouthed policy, saying that it will only use nuclear weapons against nuclear states, but heavy vacillation on the threshold of their use in such conflicts. All of the other nuclear states basically state that their nuclear weapons are solely a defensive measure.
On one hand, this is a classic dictatorship move. Senegal just did the same just after postponing elections. On the other hand, Pakistan really did have terrorist attacks just before the election, targeted at the election. So taking heavy handed steps to protect the election integrity can be explained.
How does cutting off communications prevent terrorist cells from executing their planned attacks? The real reason is obviously that the ruling elite usurped and imprisoned Pakistan's most popular leader, which means the political situation is very volatile.
It impedes their situational awareness. If they're waiting on signals that never come, you win. If you capture one, he can't warn the others.
You know what they say about plans and first contact with the enemy...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because in modern day the only reason to take that action is to manipulate votes.
i'm trying to understand how or why you would manipulate votes like this call me crazy but i think mass-scale communication is a better way to manipulate votes, it allows people far away from each other to coordinate their numbers but if you cut off their coordination mechanism they can't exchange information, and perhaps they might fear pushing out fake numbers in case the numbers of them plus a few others look stra…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here's a document I am currently reading for my research [0]. It contains some interesting definitions I hope you find helpful. [0] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2021/6536...
Helpful? > Here, disinformation refers to false, inaccurate or misleading information designed, presented and promoted intentionally to cause public harm or make a profit. Is campaigning on lies a form of profit? You might win. These hypocrites really dare to present this as novel? Lying in politics? What’s really the practical difference between this ostensibly oh-so clearly demarcated “disinformation” and less outr…
That's a fundamental misunderstanding around the word "authority" (which we confuse with power in "western" language)
Firstly, what power says is immaterial with regard to actual truth or falsehood. That's why people wear T-shirts that say "Science is a bitch huh?". Certainly, millions may die because a man with a big gun, a big ego and a small penis swears that black is white, but ain't it always been so? Tomorrow you get to hold the gun, and suddenly you're "right".
But most importantly, "disinformation" has nothing to do with truth or falsehood. It's about intent. The word "intention" is right there. Otherwise what you have is "misinformation".
What pleases me about the linked definition is that profit and harm are deemed unacceptable intents. That scoops up every lying advertiser, every manipulative Big-Tech company, and every lying domestic politician into the "disinformation" net too, and for me that makes the world a better place. YMMV.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why does it indicate that? Every election in every country took place without Internet or (meaningful amounts of) cell phone service not that long ago .
Because in modern day the only reason to take that action is to manipulate votes.
If you're making your choice based on breaking news on election day, you're the one being manipulated.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
South Korea shuts down air travel during the nation wide university entrance examination.
I was curious, so I googled… - “The government grounds aircraft or reroutes flights to keep students from getting distracted during the biggest test of their lives.” - “ On the streets Thursday morning, you could hear more sirens than usual, because anyone running late to the competitive exam can call for a free police escort to rush them straight to the test site.” - “Success is defined narrowly. Get a high score on…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some countries including my home country Poland impose a ban on political agitation on the election day. It means that no political content may be published on that day, but whatever has been published before that is allowed to stay. This is an old law which predates the Internet, so anything from social media posts to hanging up election posters is liable to be prosecuted and the authorities frequently do so. It's l…
We have similar restrictions in the UK. In the weeks before an election, government ministers and civil servants are not allowed to announce new policies or spending. On polling day, broadcast media cannot report on political matters or speculate about the outcome of the election. We also have extremely strict limits on campaign finance. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05... https://edition.…