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Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

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Re: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to hear you are struggling with internet access, but I don't see how the actions of India create legal precedence in Belarus?

He's being sardonic. Assad, Putin, Lukashenko, Modi, Bolsonaro, Duterte...they all use pseudo-legalistic justifications for authoritarian action. Assad in particular went as far as cataloging thousands of his torture victims to give an official veneer to the circumstances of their death. This is even though it seems insane to record evidence of one's own gruesome crimes of genocide. https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12…

>Assad, Putin, Lukashenko, Modi, Bolsonaro, Duterte, Trump...they all use pseudo-legalistic justifications for authoritarian action

Re: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

#72
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there is nothing wrong with that statement. Arguing in favor of censorship is not the same as censorship. The whole point of free discussion is that you can talk about the philosophical merits of anything , regardless of whether or not the argument itself is "correct". On the flipside, policing other's willingness to engage certain arguments is itself a form of micro-censorship. The pushback is against arguments…

We're probably on the same page. We just have a different definition of "tolerate." I swiftly downvoted the comment and hope that others do too, and to me that's not tolerating the comment. I will gladly engage with the comment...by pointing out how insanely wrong and inhumane it is.

No disagreements there.

Re: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

#73
post #17
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will shift a lot of power from the countries where the internet users are located to the countries where the space internet companies operate from. Both in the free countries like the EU, and in non-free countries like Belarus. That being said, the user's country still has some level of control: * the companies want to be paid by their users somehow, and local governments usually have control over money flows insi…

* International treaties and national laws prohibit sending radio signals into the country if the countries government doesn't give you permission. Space ISPs are very unlikely to do so without permission except at the behest of their home government.

Can you point to a specific treaty? Radio Free Europe has been doing it for decades. Photons don't stop at national borders, and the footprint of a satellite is likely going to mean that Belarus will have transmissions from satellites, even if no one wants that to happen.

Re: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

#74
post #55
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN values freedom and as software engineers who depend on the internet I don't think we'd tolerate bullshit comments like this.

HN's values are limited to the site guidelines. Arguing against freedom of information is tolerated in the context of Tik Tok, and IMO should be tolerated in the context of terrorism in Kashmir. I want to re-iterate that I agree with you that curtailing the freedom of information is bad, but that simply arguing about it and hearing from those that feel otherwise — especially those that claim to be directly impacted —…

Obviously, we are diverse group of people with equally diverse opinions on matter. But from what I've seen, there's a healthy amount of comments around in support of TikTok and against the CCP and USG's seemingly coordinated attempts to dismantle them.

In fact, it was from HN that I learned of ByteDance's desire to distance themselves from the CCP and that the war on TikTok in both countries is likely in response to their refusal to play ball with the CCP. The American media's barrage of anti-TT reporting never really made sense until that revelation. After all, there are plenty of more significant Chinese tech companies whose apps are more pervasive, yet are rarely mentioned in the news, i.e., Tencent.

Re: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm typing this from Jammu. Since 370 abrogation last year, number of terror incidents in J&K is down by 40%. Every story has two sides. While I hope the govt brings back full 4G connectivity soon, I am grateful to them for taking the terror situation seriously.

Do you have any evidence limited speeds are the reason for a reduction in terrorist incidents? Unless you have some hard evidence that's a weak-sauce claim. Correlation at best .

children havent gone to school since 5 august 2019 in kashmir. while the world is enjoying the benefits of zoom and stuff, everyone is stuck with 2G. that means no zoom parties, no conference calls, recorded classes are sent via voice notes on whatsapp groups for each class and children write simple exams on paper and photo a picture. things are THAT DEPLORABLE and the narrative "stopping terrorism" is given as an excuse to prevent 8 million people from internet? what gives?

Re: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

#76

Can we call this the "Kashmir playbook"? Or is there a better earlier example of a temporary-induced communications blackout vs what e.g. the PRC does.

yes. This is more like the kashmir playbook. stopping internet to prevent people from communicating, to prevent an uprising where external agencies can provide information, assistance, attacks and such. This same thing is happening in kashmir the moment i write this so its hardly surprising more countries havent done it yet because it is a kill switch and governments are willing to push it if it threatens them

Re: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any evidence limited speeds are the reason for a reduction in terrorist incidents? Unless you have some hard evidence that's a weak-sauce claim. Correlation at best .

children havent gone to school since 5 august 2019 in kashmir. while the world is enjoying the benefits of zoom and stuff, everyone is stuck with 2G. that means no zoom parties, no conference calls, recorded classes are sent via voice notes on whatsapp groups for each class and children write simple exams on paper and photo a picture. things are THAT DEPLORABLE and the narrative "stopping terrorism" is given as an ex…

My friend, although I feel the same as you about the 2G connectivity issue, I should remind you that just 3 years before 370 abrogation, schools in Kashmir were shut for 8 Months [1] after the killing of Terrorist by security forces. This is the J&K I have grown up in. "Stopping terrorism" sounds like just another narrative, but not to those who have lived with its consequences.

[1] https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/kashmir-schools-reopen...

Re: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's being sardonic. Assad, Putin, Lukashenko, Modi, Bolsonaro, Duterte...they all use pseudo-legalistic justifications for authoritarian action. Assad in particular went as far as cataloging thousands of his torture victims to give an official veneer to the circumstances of their death. This is even though it seems insane to record evidence of one's own gruesome crimes of genocide. https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12…

>Assad, Putin, Lukashenko, Modi, Bolsonaro, Duterte, Trump...they all use pseudo-legalistic justifications for authoritarian action

You’re getting down voted for including Trump but his recent use of Federal officers to police the streets of Portland and his attempts to delay the November vote show he is in the same category.

Re: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

children havent gone to school since 5 august 2019 in kashmir. while the world is enjoying the benefits of zoom and stuff, everyone is stuck with 2G. that means no zoom parties, no conference calls, recorded classes are sent via voice notes on whatsapp groups for each class and children write simple exams on paper and photo a picture. things are THAT DEPLORABLE and the narrative "stopping terrorism" is given as an ex…

My friend, although I feel the same as you about the 2G connectivity issue, I should remind you that just 3 years before 370 abrogation, schools in Kashmir were shut for 8 Months [1] after the killing of Terrorist by security forces. This is the J&K I have grown up in. "Stopping terrorism" sounds like just another narrative, but not to those who have lived with its consequences. [1] https://www.indiatoday.in/india/st…

what is your point? that its okay to actively prevent schoolchildren from studying? how does it matter schools were shut for 8 months 3 years ago. the point is, with the current pandemic, schoolchildren are stuck at home anyways and denying them high speed internet is denying them access to education. plain and simple. you argue because its been done before so everyone is used to it and thats somehow okay? its not

Re: Belarus has shut down the internet amid a controversial election

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

children havent gone to school since 5 august 2019 in kashmir. while the world is enjoying the benefits of zoom and stuff, everyone is stuck with 2G. that means no zoom parties, no conference calls, recorded classes are sent via voice notes on whatsapp groups for each class and children write simple exams on paper and photo a picture. things are THAT DEPLORABLE and the narrative "stopping terrorism" is given as an ex…

My friend, although I feel the same as you about the 2G connectivity issue, I should remind you that just 3 years before 370 abrogation, schools in Kashmir were shut for 8 Months [1] after the killing of Terrorist by security forces. This is the J&K I have grown up in. "Stopping terrorism" sounds like just another narrative, but not to those who have lived with its consequences. [1] https://www.indiatoday.in/india/st…

What does that have to do with internet speeds? Citation needed.
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