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Cutting off the electricity is less damaging. Because if they have no sources of information, then all they have is propaganda. If they have no access to free

Cutting off the electricity is less damaging. Because if they have no sources of information, then all they have is propaganda. If they have no access to free chat apps - they have no safe way to communicate. It just can not help them to overthrow Putin. I see the point in economic sanctions - people should be forced to go to the streets. Brutally forced, if needed. I agree that it's necessary. But they still should have access to information (not only propaganda) and secure communication.

KarlKemp 5y ago
In almost all cases, cutting off the electricity over any significant amount of time will also make it impossible to access the internet. It is therefore impossible for only the second thing to be worse than the first & second thing.
- EugeneOZ 5y ago
  Without electricity, you have solar chargers and wifi/4g.
- waffleiron 5y ago
  OP's point is that "cutting off the internet" means cutting off access to the Western internet, and not "all internet".
  - EugeneOZ 5y ago
    There are ways to deliver propaganda without the internet (television, lessons in schools - it is being heavily used right now), but there are no ways to spread the real information without Internet access.
    - _0w8t 5y ago
      Short-wave radio is an option
      - m000 5y ago
        Or printing pamphlets on the hectograph.
danbruc 5y ago
Cutting off the electricity is less damaging. Without electricity, no internet, to a first approximation. So I tend to disagree because one mostly entails the other.
- EugeneOZ 5y ago
  And no propaganda, so it's still less damaging.
cyberge99 5y ago
Propaganda was delivered via air drops back in the day. Perhaps Ukraine could deploy leaflets via helium balloons or similarly primitive mechanism.
Fnoord 5y ago
The people in Mariupol have been cut off electricity, water, and are starving. Without electricity, even mobile goes down. No electricity, no Star Link. No electric cars. No photos from your smartphone (it dies eventually, like all batteries). Zero communication. Its objectively worse than no internet. Besides, the Russians were centralized on their own walled garden anyway. They still have their RUnet, and Putin was alreafy censoring the internet heavily as far as he could (including by centralizing in Russia).
- EugeneOZ 5y ago
  The last line is not quite correct. Twitter is blocked, Tor bridges are being blocked regularly. Other than that, there are no significant bans. Nobody removes messages from Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, Signal, Matrix. Censorship right now only works against the .ru websites and newspapers - they can't post anything and can’t even call it war. One of them is still calling it a war, though - Meduza. Also, independent radio stations were closed. This document is only about access to western newspapers, websites, and chats like Matrix, Viber, Signal.

KarlKemp 5y ago

In almost all cases, cutting off the electricity over any significant amount of time will also make it impossible to access the internet. It is therefore impossible for only the second thing to be worse than the first & second thing.

EugeneOZ 5y ago
Without electricity, you have solar chargers and wifi/4g.
waffleiron 5y ago
OP's point is that "cutting off the internet" means cutting off access to the Western internet, and not "all internet".
- EugeneOZ 5y ago
  There are ways to deliver propaganda without the internet (television, lessons in schools - it is being heavily used right now), but there are no ways to spread the real information without Internet access.
  - _0w8t 5y ago
    Short-wave radio is an option
    - m000 5y ago
      Or printing pamphlets on the hectograph.

danbruc 5y ago

Cutting off the electricity is less damaging. Without electricity, no internet, to a first approximation. So I tend to disagree because one mostly entails the other.

EugeneOZ 5y ago
And no propaganda, so it's still less damaging.

cyberge99 5y ago

Propaganda was delivered via air drops back in the day. Perhaps Ukraine could deploy leaflets via helium balloons or similarly primitive mechanism.

Fnoord 5y ago

The people in Mariupol have been cut off electricity, water, and are starving. Without electricity, even mobile goes down. No electricity, no Star Link. No electric cars. No photos from your smartphone (it dies eventually, like all batteries). Zero communication. Its objectively worse than no internet. Besides, the Russians were centralized on their own walled garden anyway. They still have their RUnet, and Putin was alreafy censoring the internet heavily as far as he could (including by centralizing in Russia).

EugeneOZ 5y ago
The last line is not quite correct. Twitter is blocked, Tor bridges are being blocked regularly. Other than that, there are no significant bans. Nobody removes messages from Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, Signal, Matrix. Censorship right now only works against the .ru websites and newspapers - they can't post anything and can’t even call it war. One of them is still calling it a war, though - Meduza. Also, independent radio stations were closed. This document is only about access to western newspapers, websites, and chats like Matrix, Viber, Signal.