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Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

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Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#891

Post by idclip »

Arathorn wrote: post #857
Arathorn wrote: post #3

So we got notified by the developer console at 21:45 UTC that the app had been suspended, but still haven’t had an email to explain why - it’s 02:24 now. Our assumption that this is due to someone reporting abusive content in Matrix to Google, and Element catching the blame — although this is currently speculation. To be clear: Element is a Matrix client just as Chrome is a Web browser, and just as it’s possible to v…

UPDATE: I just got a call from a VP at Google who apologised for the bad communication around this and explained the situation, which related to some extremely abusive content which was accessible on the default matrix.org homeserver. We don't want to go into specifics, but suffice it to say that it's not related to WallStreet Bets or anything like that, but instead is the sort of thing that causes you to get locked…

Sounds like CP ... cp is a real issue when it comes to crypto.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#892

Post by thaumasiotes »

skynet-9000 wrote: post #803
panarky wrote: post #785

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you accept that (1) there is a substantial amount of mal-content that Google should censor, and (2) a key use case for federated messaging platforms is to evade censorship, and that (3) client applications can be functionally part of a federated messaging platform while legally separate from it, then those client applications are fair game to be censored when they deliver mal-content. Now I may disagree with parts…

While we're at it, should we ban email apps as well? And probably the Internet itself and go back to "safe" walled gardens like AOL, since there are almost certainly bad people on the net?

> should we ban email apps as well? And probably the Internet itself and go back to "safe" walled gardens like AOL

Huh? The AOL you're thinking of included an enormous cross-section of the population, with no controls on who could talk to who. If the Internet is unsafe, then so is AOL, because they're the same thing.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#893

Post by nobody9999 »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #707
nobody9999 wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In theory it's nice, in practice are there phones that you can root without leaving the bootloader in a vulnerable state? I've always just unlocked the bootloader, then installed TWRP[0] (or similar) and then re-locked the bootloader. Once a reasonable recovery partition is in place, you don't need keep the bootloader unlocked. [0] https://twrp.me/

And then how do you actually do the rooting in a way that doesn't make your phone fail to boot? What model of phone?

>And then how do you actually do the rooting in a way that doesn't make your phone fail to boot? What model of phone?

That's dependent on which phone you have and what software you have on that phone.

Here's a few places to start:

https://html.duckduckgo.com/html?q=root%20android%20phone

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#894

Post by ajayyy »

INTPenis wrote: post #890
stjohnswarts wrote: post #864

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I can visit sites and do things in chrome that will get me locked up for life as well yet it's still on my phone.

You could also load the webbased element client in Chrome and use Matrix in Chrome. In theory at least, not sure how it holds up on mobile but you can definitely use it in Chrome desktop browser.

https://hydrogen.element.io/#/login works on mobile. It's their experimental light-weight web client.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#895

Post by tluyben2 »

pimeys wrote: post #841
absorber wrote: post #802

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What CPU are you running it on and how many cores are being used? Are you also in really large rooms like Techlore and Matrix HQ? Because I think I'm in all of the largest rooms (and a lot of the smaller ones)

I'm running my instance with lots of bridges in a 3-core 4GB server, paying about eight euros a month for it. Synapse runs just fine, but I'll probably switch to the Rust impl when it's done. If you want to go cheaper and have only 300-400 Mbps of bandwidth, I've heard lots of good things about this provider: https://contabo.com/en/vps/

Contabo is great: finally a provider that does not save on mem and disk space. I moved everything to them and I save tons of money. The 400mbps is only for the cheapest as well: you can pay more to get more. Not that most people would need more. Especially for running matrix for a company etc.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#896

Post by jpetso »

shakna wrote: post #889
TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #874

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Element, the matrix protocol, and matrix.org are all tightly linked together. Matrix.org is the default server in Element. With them so interconnected, I understand why matrix.org issues would affect Element.

Not that tightly linked. Whilst the Element client does offer Matrix.org as a signup/login as the first page you see, you're also just one single click from signup/login to any of the other servers. Nothing about that page really feels locked or branded to matrix.org. I don't see how that makes Element responsible for matrix.org content. Thunderbird offers getting an email address via gandi.net in their new account p…

New Vector leadership holding key decision-making positions on both Element and Matrix.org could be seen as a distinguishing factor. It feels subjectively like more entanglement than the Mozilla/Gandi combo.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#898

Post by usr1106 »

tabbott wrote: post #702
Arathorn wrote: post #3

So we got notified by the developer console at 21:45 UTC that the app had been suspended, but still haven’t had an email to explain why - it’s 02:24 now. Our assumption that this is due to someone reporting abusive content in Matrix to Google, and Element catching the blame — although this is currently speculation. To be clear: Element is a Matrix client just as Chrome is a Web browser, and just as it’s possible to v…

I'm really upset that this happened to you folks, and it's scary, because incident could just as easily have happened to us at Zulip (or any other OSS app that connects to self-hosted servers!). I expect we'll never get a useful explanation from Google for why this incident happened -- abuse teams, like fraud teams, are worried about the bad guys using the explanations to tune their tactics and so tend to never expla…

> There needs to be regulatory oversight of the Google/Apple app stores

The regularity oversight needs to address a different aspect: google is world-wide de-facto monopoly for people not owning an iPhone. At least for the most part of the freer world, China is different story.

Until Google is broken up or fair competition is not achieved, content regulation does not help. As a European I want to care about US regulation as much as about US tax laws: not at all. The US is not the world-regulator. We elect governments in Europe that have no power to do anything in this sector. I don't say Google should be forbidden in Europe, we are not China. But competition and more choice for users needs to be guaranteed by effective legislation, in practice that against Google and Apple.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#899

Post by fsflover »

Thorentis wrote: post #880
fsflover wrote: post #776

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This is basically the last straw for me. So are you going to switch to a GNU/Linux phone, Librem 5 or Pinephone?

Nokia dumbphone!

What’s its advantage over a Linux phone with kill switches?

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#900

Post by mswann »

Arathorn wrote: post #857
Arathorn wrote: post #3

So we got notified by the developer console at 21:45 UTC that the app had been suspended, but still haven’t had an email to explain why - it’s 02:24 now. Our assumption that this is due to someone reporting abusive content in Matrix to Google, and Element catching the blame — although this is currently speculation. To be clear: Element is a Matrix client just as Chrome is a Web browser, and just as it’s possible to v…

UPDATE: I just got a call from a VP at Google who apologised for the bad communication around this and explained the situation, which related to some extremely abusive content which was accessible on the default matrix.org homeserver. We don't want to go into specifics, but suffice it to say that it's not related to WallStreet Bets or anything like that, but instead is the sort of thing that causes you to get locked…

Thank you for all your efforts. The way you appear to have handled google's unjustifiable action is really impressive. Clearly that's one of the main reasons to be optimistic that matrix has a bright future - if I was in charge it certainly wouldn't. Due to incidents like this I simply ditched google completely. (OK, to be honest I sometimes watch videos on yt but without having an account.)
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