Background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDbgYClWZWU It seems that the people of Pakistan are pushing back hard against the former PM's arrest.
That’s why we (the US) are shutting down internet access in Pakistan.
Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan
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Re: Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
You'd need more than an internet that could not be shut off. You'd also need an internet where communication could not be tracked. One of the most effective ways to maintain an authoritarian regime is to proactively prevent a critical mass of revolt from forming. You just need to keep a steady low volume of arrests and disappearances going for people who express discontent. If not enough people are actively expressin…
History also shows that creates instability. Everyone knows what is going on and keeps the status quo, but a shock (often external) occurs to ignite the dry wood, and disruption erupts. Demonstrations and riots can be healthy releases of tension in democracies. Bottle-in the regular microquakes, and you get devastating earthquakes instead.
> History also shows that creates instability
I would say Russia, China, and North Korea (all well-known to disappear people) have been incredibly stable. Even countries that were quite liberal (e.g., Iran, Myanmar) have worn their populations down into compliance in their major cities. Even the liberal West is borrowing from the same playbook (e.g., police raids on investigative journalists, politically motivated prosecutions).
The strategy works, but as you imply, maybe there's a breaking point... or maybe totalitarian states have figured out how to get as close to that line as possible without crossing it.
Re: Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
In theory sure, but practically, it won’t. Even in the US, only 15% of households have any backup at all [1]. That number it drops even more in the rest of the world. And to add to it, just having a backup isn’t enough if the outage is sustained for a longer period of time. For the rest of the world, especially countries like Pakistan, solar power or a battery backup is out of reach for the majority of the population…
> Even in the US, only 15% of households have any backup at all That's because people in the US rarely, if ever, lose power, so there's no need for backups.
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Re: Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
You'd need more than an internet that could not be shut off. You'd also need an internet where communication could not be tracked. One of the most effective ways to maintain an authoritarian regime is to proactively prevent a critical mass of revolt from forming. You just need to keep a steady low volume of arrests and disappearances going for people who express discontent. If not enough people are actively expressin…
History also shows that creates instability. Everyone knows what is going on and keeps the status quo, but a shock (often external) occurs to ignite the dry wood, and disruption erupts. Demonstrations and riots can be healthy releases of tension in democracies. Bottle-in the regular microquakes, and you get devastating earthquakes instead.
I don’t think so. Internally all these countries are very stable, they are just weak to external forces that are out innovating then and move up on the tech/production tree.
Re: Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think Othernet is really cool. Don't even need a big dish. In 2kbps, they fit in RSS news feeds (BBC, Al Jazeera, Boing Boing, and others), APRS messages, WikiNews, global winds report, a daily Voice of America news report. Currently only works in Europe and North America, but nice to know there's a middle-of-no-where service that doesn't require a sub that gives you some barebones info from the outside world. Ther…
> I think Othernet is really cool. Yup! I'm looking forward to them having equipment available again (so I don't need to homebrew). > Don't even need a big dish. With a decent LNB, you don't need a dish at -all-.
It's available now.
Re: Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan
#156Contrary to popular belief, at least in my country (India). I feel bad for the citizens of Pakistan. There has not been a single stint of govt that has lasted peacefully since independence. A country can never grow without a peaceful transfer of power, and constant political imbalance will just not allow anything to advance. A shared history/culture with us and it's a shame our govts have differences. We fought toget…
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Re: Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan
#157I would like to believe there is a future where blocking access to the internet is unilaterally impossible. Major powers being able to pull the rug on what has become a foundation of modern society like this is too scary of a thing to allow. What could the answer be? Satellite-powered relays and DIY-able user devices to talk to them?
What you suggest is impossible, because you are attacking a wrench on the head problem with a coding solution. You can always get a dish and connect to your choice of orbital provider, if your ISP - which is regulated - is blocked. The problem is, guys with guns will come to your door, beat you with a wrench, and put you in jail.
Now if we solve for the real issue - lack of freedom because of a ruling class, the technical issue goes away. There's nothing to solve if you can't be oppressed, and if the ruler has no way to oppress, they'd have no way to block your ISP in the first place.
The reason for the oppression is, a large portion of every country actually wants to be oppressed. Even in a democracy, the oppression of you can simply come from a majority (EU citizens have no freedom of speech) or large minority (magats prosecuting women and doctors for murder because of a life-threatening abortion).
There is no answer, because many people want to control and silence others who don't agree - or to compensate for lack of control of their crap lives by controlling other lives. Take a look at this site, and most social media sites. Tiny-dick big-belly mods shadowbanning, the other users downvoting, making comments gray so you can't read them.
Most people are bootlickers. Most people want the type of power structure that ends up with the internet blocked. They don't want freedom - they want to be on the side doing the oppressing.
Re: Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan
#158This is not an Internet disruption, this is a coordinated shutdown by US social media networks to suppress protests against the illegal arrest of Pakistan’s president by a paramilitary organization.
Citation? I think you have cause and effect backwards? This post and all the news coverage I can find says that the Pakistani government is the one enforcing these blocks. Including wholly disabling the internet for mobile devices in some regions.
I don't understand how US social media networks could cause wholesale internet shutdowns in Pakistan, or why they'd suddenly be inclined to do so. Seems much simpler for the ruling government to require their local ISPs enforce these blocks.
Re: Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
In theory sure, but practically, it won’t. Even in the US, only 15% of households have any backup at all [1]. That number it drops even more in the rest of the world. And to add to it, just having a backup isn’t enough if the outage is sustained for a longer period of time. For the rest of the world, especially countries like Pakistan, solar power or a battery backup is out of reach for the majority of the population…
> Even in the US, only 15% of households have any backup at all That's because people in the US rarely, if ever, lose power, so there's no need for backups.
So you would suggest countries with more power outages should have higher adoption of power backups? Yet, about 25% of population in Pakistan does not even have access to electricity. [1] Meanwhile the rest of the country frequently is plunged into darkness with millions without electricity. [2] Yet, solar adoption in the country is very low and most of the population does not have any backup power.
[1] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS?location...
[2] https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/01/22/asia/pakistan-power-outag...
Re: Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan
#160I would like to believe there is a future where blocking access to the internet is unilaterally impossible. Major powers being able to pull the rug on what has become a foundation of modern society like this is too scary of a thing to allow. What could the answer be? Satellite-powered relays and DIY-able user devices to talk to them?
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