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Everyone gets their apps from two places: the Apple app store and Google Play. To enforce a ban on whatsapp, all the government has to do is compel Google and A
by albertgoeswoof 9y ago
Everyone gets their apps from two places: the Apple app store and Google Play. To enforce a ban on whatsapp, all the government has to do is compel Google and Apple to pull them from the app store.
The common user is currently entrenched in two walled gardens for almost all of their activity, and banning encrypted communications for 95% of the population is now feasible, and perhaps quite likely. That sucks.
- zimpenfish 9y ago> all the government has to do is compel Google and Apple to pull them from the app store. I would honestly love to see UKGOV try that. There wouldn't be enough popcorn in the world for what a disaster that would be on every level.
- albertgoeswoof 9y agoI wouldn't, it's not like Google doesn't already comply with state censorship laws: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_by_Google https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_by_Google Most people would switch to something that is compliant with government legislation, very quickly. Because most people don't know or care what encryption is, they just want to talk to their friends.
- dingaling 9y agoAt least amongst Android users, packaged apps passed around for side-loading are fairly common. Just last week I saw a non-technical colleague side-loading Messenger Lite from an APK mirror site as it is not available through the Play Store in the UK. WhatsApp even have a direct APK download on their website, cutting out the middleman.