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Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

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Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#131
post #38
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The poster you're answering to just described what happens.

Not for diversions necessarily. Diversion versus expected connection should at least help one’s lawyers… hopefully.

When you're standing at the customs office entering a country, your lawyers are far far FAR away and the people talking to you won't care about them even a little bit.

Whatever will happen with you lawyering and fighting the border officers, will happen after you've been detained.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh boy , this is American exceptionalism at its finest. The US has by far the most authoritarian government of all mentioned entities. Really you should protest against your government.

How many people has the US sent to jail due to saying naughty things on Twitter vs the UK? If were going to speak of authoritarianism. Just due to ensuring free speech and right to bear arms the US is possibly the least authoritarian developed nation outside of maybe Switzerland.

The US government killed two people protesting against their migration policy. Oh boy, MAGA is deep into America. Thanks for reminding me.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#133
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the formative narratives of Indian independence is that peaceful protest works in getting rid of bad governments. on edit: changed myths to narratives to avoid confusion

It’s funny because the Indian independence movement was a failure. Indians protested non-violently and sometimes violently for over a hundred years, and British control (first through the East India company and then directly by the crown) kept increasing with every passing year, eventually encompassing the entire subcontinent. India eventually gained independence because colonialism in general was not politically and…

I think the political non-viability was at least partly due to the combination of non-violence and the potential threat of violence, as I am of the opinion that the first never works without a threat of the second.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#134
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh boy , this is American exceptionalism at its finest. The US has by far the most authoritarian government of all mentioned entities. Really you should protest against your government.

What a mix! Yes, it is American exceptionalism (and quite foolish) to make the claim that "This could never happen in the US". No, the American government is NOT more authoritative than the UK in the way they handle freedom of websites. The grandparent comment is correct: the US government does not (currently) order ISPs to block specific websites. Yes, those in the US should protest the current government (many of u…

Sorry OPs first sentence mentions this is basically impossible in the US and then compared to EU or UK. There is a certain tone and I don't think this comment was a good faith criticism on EU or UK policy

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it's also cute when people imply the internet is unregulateable. There are plenty of tools that countries use to regulate internet traffic. They can require ISPs to DPI the traffic and block it. They can MITM traffic. They can shut off the internet entirely. They can throw people in jail. etc. This stuff happens in many places, including in India.

They could even just shoot people for using the internet! It’s hopeless. Anyone who wants freedom should probably just give up now before it’s too late.

[deleted]

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#136
post #17

India is pretty serious about being able to monitor all communications after the terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008. The terrorists used satellite phones to coordinate the attack. As a result, they banned most satellite communication devices. I learned about this earlier this year because I had a connecting flight through India on the way to go trekking in the Himalayas. I had planned to take a Garmin inReach with me,…

The Indian government is pretty serious about cracking down violently on peaceful protesters: https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/23/india-excessive-force-us...

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/anantnag-terror-atta...

BBC says 3000 but yeah.

https://www.outlookindia.com/national/2-terrorists-family-ho...

So the houses of 2 accused were razed because.....

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#137
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it's also cute when people imply the internet is unregulateable. There are plenty of tools that countries use to regulate internet traffic. They can require ISPs to DPI the traffic and block it. They can MITM traffic. They can shut off the internet entirely. They can throw people in jail. etc. This stuff happens in many places, including in India.

>And it's also cute when people imply the internet is unregulateable. There are plenty of tools that countries use to regulate internet traffic. They can require ISPs to DPI the traffic and block it. They can MITM traffic. They can shut off the internet entirely. They can throw people in jail. etc. I don't think there's any country that can keep a lid on the internet. The best they can do are leaky blocks (china's gf…

As I understand it, China's GFW is intentionally leaky, balancing as much control as they can get away with but not enough to forment open revolt. As with a lot of things, the best control is not total control.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#138

India is kind of cute. In the late 90s I attended a Telephone industry conference while working for a telephony test equipment company. A rep. from the Indian government gave a talk on their telephone system regulations. During the question period I got up and asked how India was dealing with voice over internet protocol (VOIP). With a straight face the speaker replied "We will not allow it". :-)

Reminds me of Elon's answer to the question of what various countries can do about StarLink: "They can shake their fists at the sky."

India's solution is that they put anyone who has a starlink ground station in jail.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it's also cute when people imply the internet is unregulateable. There are plenty of tools that countries use to regulate internet traffic. They can require ISPs to DPI the traffic and block it. They can MITM traffic. They can shut off the internet entirely. They can throw people in jail. etc. This stuff happens in many places, including in India.

They could even just shoot people for using the internet! It’s hopeless. Anyone who wants freedom should probably just give up now before it’s too late.

I'm not suggesting people should give up, I'm suggesting that some countries can resort to doing very uncute things when faced with noncompliance.

When someone with the monopoly on the use of force says they will not allow something, that isn't something cute to ignore, it is serious.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#140
post #29

India is kind of cute. In the late 90s I attended a Telephone industry conference while working for a telephony test equipment company. A rep. from the Indian government gave a talk on their telephone system regulations. During the question period I got up and asked how India was dealing with voice over internet protocol (VOIP). With a straight face the speaker replied "We will not allow it". :-)

Lots of countries ban voip in some way or another. Not allowed to connect to the PSTN. Disrupted by licensed ISPs based on traffic inspection. Large vendors yelled at. Etc.

voip is pretty effectively banned, or at least marginalized, in the USA. Can't use a Google Voice number for most payment services, for example.
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