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In my hometown, Darjeeling (India), Internet has been blocked since June 17, 2017 by the government to censor the citizens of the area. Media doesn't cover us w

In my hometown, Darjeeling (India), Internet has been blocked since June 17, 2017 by the government to censor the citizens of the area. Media doesn't cover us well as its a small town. How do we Battle for the Internet? How can we drum up support?

anigbrowl 9y ago
An article detailing the issue would be very interesting. I found this one but don't know the issue as well as I'd like. If you wanted to suggest some better ones via gmail, I would be happy to try to raise awareness though my own social media network, as this is the sort of thing that would be of interest to many of my friends. It sounds as if you're from Darjeeling rather than based there now (since you obviously have internet access). I wonder what obstacles besides the obvious ones of poverty would prevent the creation of informal peer-based networking. It seems clear to me that networking needs to be fractal in order to function as an instrument of general liberation/empowerment, vs high-volume hierarchies that can be switched off as in your example. Please do follow up with me on this. I can't devote a lot of time to it but you raise a critically important question that I want to include in my political calculus going forward.
- ShirsenduK 9y ago
  Here is an article from couple of days back. https://scroll.in/latest/843200/home-minister-rajnath-singh-assures-sikkim-that-darjeeling-protests-will-not-affect-their-security https://scroll.in/latest/843200/home-minister-rajnath-singh-... - Near the end there is a section about Darjeeling. I live in Darjeeling but at the foothills where the Internet hasn't been blocked. I have friends who have been suffering. Banks can't function without internet. Doctors cannot look up medicines without the internet. Its a mess. People are not tech savvy enough to use FireChat. We have free voice calls on mobile(3G/4G). Where does one start to build a data on voice app? Thank you for the support! Please spread the word :)
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    Thanks for your prompt feedback, I will share this information and I hope it contributes something to to your situation. I'm Irish and have always had a lot of respect for the Gorkha people because their historical situation is easy to identify with. I definitely encourage you to write up a short article of your own on this since you have first-hand experience, perhaps for submission tomorrow or friday (around this same time of day or a little earlier for best exposure). This seems like a textbook case of a problem that should be easily soluble by technical means but which is blocked by other factors. It's strange and unfortunate that Firechat doesn't work on desktop (allowing easy spread by USB keys), and also (AFAIK) that it's not practical to pper up to install it. I have no idea about how to build a data-on-voice app (which would have the same bootstrapping problems as firechat), but if you have a printer and want to do some organizing you could establish phone trees with some friends, and then get people to travel by bus to your neighborhood, install firechat, and begin (slowly) lighting up the dark zone, maybe? http://www.intermountainpro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Phonetree-IP.pdf http://www.intermountainpro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/P... Please do submit an article on this. I think it's an important example of a collective action problem of the sort that people int he west have partly forgotten how to deal with.

anigbrowl 9y ago

An article detailing the issue would be very interesting. I found this one but don't know the issue as well as I'd like. If you wanted to suggest some better ones via gmail, I would be happy to try to raise awareness though my own social media network, as this is the sort of thing that would be of interest to many of my friends. It sounds as if you're from Darjeeling rather than based there now (since you obviously have internet access). I wonder what obstacles besides the obvious ones of poverty would prevent the creation of informal peer-based networking. It seems clear to me that networking needs to be fractal in order to function as an instrument of general liberation/empowerment, vs high-volume hierarchies that can be switched off as in your example. Please do follow up with me on this. I can't devote a lot of time to it but you raise a critically important question that I want to include in my political calculus going forward.

ShirsenduK 9y ago
Here is an article from couple of days back. https://scroll.in/latest/843200/home-minister-rajnath-singh-assures-sikkim-that-darjeeling-protests-will-not-affect-their-security https://scroll.in/latest/843200/home-minister-rajnath-singh-... - Near the end there is a section about Darjeeling. I live in Darjeeling but at the foothills where the Internet hasn't been blocked. I have friends who have been suffering. Banks can't function without internet. Doctors cannot look up medicines without the internet. Its a mess. People are not tech savvy enough to use FireChat. We have free voice calls on mobile(3G/4G). Where does one start to build a data on voice app? Thank you for the support! Please spread the word :)
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  Thanks for your prompt feedback, I will share this information and I hope it contributes something to to your situation. I'm Irish and have always had a lot of respect for the Gorkha people because their historical situation is easy to identify with. I definitely encourage you to write up a short article of your own on this since you have first-hand experience, perhaps for submission tomorrow or friday (around this same time of day or a little earlier for best exposure). This seems like a textbook case of a problem that should be easily soluble by technical means but which is blocked by other factors. It's strange and unfortunate that Firechat doesn't work on desktop (allowing easy spread by USB keys), and also (AFAIK) that it's not practical to pper up to install it. I have no idea about how to build a data-on-voice app (which would have the same bootstrapping problems as firechat), but if you have a printer and want to do some organizing you could establish phone trees with some friends, and then get people to travel by bus to your neighborhood, install firechat, and begin (slowly) lighting up the dark zone, maybe? http://www.intermountainpro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Phonetree-IP.pdf http://www.intermountainpro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/P... Please do submit an article on this. I think it's an important example of a collective action problem of the sort that people int he west have partly forgotten how to deal with.