16 ms·
Pakistan cuts off phone and internet services on election day
- sofixa 3y agoOn one hand, this is a classic dictatorship move. Senegal just did the same just after postponing elections. On the other hand, Pakistan really did have terrorist attacks just before the election, targeted at the election. So taking heavy handed steps to protect the election integrity can be explained.
- nonrandomstring 3y agoAs an idea, media moratoriums immediately prior to elections seems fairly sensible. AI and disinformation attacks are likely to be 'last minute'. Maybe the entire phone and Internet system is going a bit far. Also, obtaining broad consensus for just muting the main social media channels doesn't seem that unreasonable. My thought is, unless gunmen are showing up at polling stations, what exactly is so urgent to discuss that people haven't already made up their minds about in 24 hours? Here's a few pro and anti standpoints [0..3]. [0] https://tech-ish.com/2024/01/12/2024-elections-internet-blackouts/ https://tech-ish.com/2024/01/12/2024-elections-internet-blac... [1] https://www.axios.com/2020/09/25/majority-polled-back-a-social-media-blackout-for-election https://www.axios.com/2020/09/25/majority-polled-back-a-soci... [2] https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-on-the-week-of-the-election-social-media-must-go-dark/ https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-on-the-week-of-the-elect... [3] https://cybershow.uk/blog/posts/election-disinfo/ https://cybershow.uk/blog/posts/election-disinfo/
- giantg2 3y ago"As an idea, media moratoriums immediately prior to elections seems fairly sensible. AI and disinformation attacks are likely to be 'last minute'." Not just for misinformation, but for true information that can inject bias into the decision. Many people use polls leading up to an election to pick the winner. Primaries are an institutionalized version of this where the first few states get greater influence of the options available in the others. If we actually want to pick the best people, then we should be working to eliminate bias. I would love to see heavy restrictions in campaign advertising, the creation of a central campaign website on which every registered candidate gets a page to design, same day national primaries, some implementation of ranked choice voting, and restrictions on predictive polling or other predictive reporting that can influence the result. Although these raise many first amendment questions around legality.
- omajid 3y agoI think looking at actions around elections in Pakistan through a western lens can lead to false conclusions easily. Let me try and explain through an analogy. Suppose a US political party (A) decided it wanted to win the US elections no matter what. And it had enough clout, "campaign contributions", among the various government agencies (courts, police, FBI) to make it happen. But it just didn't have the votes to make it happen. So it used the court system to declare an entire opposite party (B) as in-eligible to run the country. If you support Republicans/Trump, think Trump is found in-eligible and the entire Republican party is too. If you support Democrats, think Biden and the entire Democrat party are banned from running in elections. That means every single member of the house that claims to be from party B is banned as running for that party. And this isn't done 2 years in advance, but mere days/weeks from the election. That sounds entirely undemocratic, right? Now the party B figures out that it represents the will of the people enough and it has enough votes that it could not only run but has a decent chance at winning. So, the members decide to run as Independents. How do you communicate this to the voters quickly? When Charlie goes in to vote for someone from B, how does he find out who to vote for? Now, add another issue to the mix. Party A really wants to win (when it can't in an ideal democracy) so it makes it difficult to vote for people in districts where it knows it is unpopular. Alice, Bob and Charlie can be living in the same household but get assigned 3 different voting locations. Imagine they all live in Dallas, TX and get asked to vote in 3 different locations in Fort-Worth, Garland and Irving. Now, the only way Charlie can still vote for the candidate that he thinks represents his views the best is to make use of websites to look up where to vote and which candidate is associated with the now-banned party B. Without internet and other sources of instant and mass communication, Charlie can't do that. As a result of these actions, party B loses the election and party A wins. Please note this is a very biased - but plausible - way to interpret the events around the current elections in Pakistan. But hopefully that perspective helps on why blocking the internet and controlling the means of communication is so important to certain individuals, companies, and political parties in Pakistan. And also why we can't look at the situation from the outside and fully understand the nuances at play.
- nonrandomstring 3y agoHmm, I tried to follow but that seemed a little elaborate. I think if someone tried to pull-off what you described (declaring a candidate disqualified within a week of an election) you'd have civil unrest or worse on your hands regardless any information flows.
- almatabata 3y ago> My thought is, unless gunmen are showing up at polling stations, what exactly is so urgent to discuss that people haven't already made up their minds about in 24 hours? If they got blasted with misinformation 24/7 before election day, how much will those 24 hours help them make an informed opinion? It might stop last minute attempts at swaying the election. But it will not stop long running campaigns.
- nonrandomstring 3y agoThat is indeed a different and separate problem in a different information space. Personally, I don't think any kind of censorship is useful or justified there.
- throwaway2203 3y agoHearing from friends that there were a lot of last minute shenanigans like poll locations getting changed, candidates election symbols getting changed (important given the lack of literacy).
- stratocumulus0 3y agoSome countries including my home country Poland impose a ban on political agitation on the election day. It means that no political content may be published on that day, but whatever has been published before that is allowed to stay. This is an old law which predates the Internet, so anything from social media posts to hanging up election posters is liable to be prosecuted and the authorities frequently do so. It's less drastic than in Pakistan, more drastic than in the West, but it certainly does cause a chilling effect on people when they know they may lose a few thousands if they get caught.
- hiAndrewQuinn 3y agoWait, do Polish people not consider themselves part of the West? Genuine question. I've met and worked with quite a few Poles since moving to the EU and my current takeaway is that it's in a really interesting fusion time between West, East, and some more mysterious third thing.
- yau8edq12i 3y agoI guess it was a shorthand for western Europe.
- bluefirebrand 3y ago"The West" is a very murky sort of definition. Arguably the colloquial "Cultural West" is what is on the Western side of what used to be called the Iron Curtain. Poland was definitely on the Eastern side of that.
- foobarian 3y agoI think being strongly Catholic draws Poland into the Western sphere in spite of the Cold War divisions.
- The_Colonel 3y agoIron Curtain was a political, not cultural border. Western civilization usually includes all European catholic countries, i. e. also Poland. (Huntington is a notorious example)
- avgcorrection 3y agoOn the one hand, maybe. On the other hand you lose democracy “bragging rights” when you have to protect the soft skulls of your subjects.
- nonrandomstring 3y agoYes there's some of loss of the sense of absolute democratic purity. But then Aristotle saw that tradeoff against real polity quite some time back. I think your point (that people ought to be smart and strong enough to withstand all and any malign influence(?)) made a lot more sense 20 years ago. In the Internet and AI influence age I think things have significantly changed. It's the integrity of the democratic process rather than the "soft skills" that requires a little more protection.
- avgcorrection 3y ago“Disinformation” is always a smokescreen. All nominal (keyword) democratic processes are filled with disinformation: standard advertisement. Those who want peace, lay down your own arms as well (no takers). Like almost 2 years of election circus in the US federal election. > I think your point (that people ought to be smart and strong enough to withstand all and any malign influence(?)) That’s absurd. I don’t conceptualize “people” as some not-me group. Well I’m not Indian^W Pakistani but the principle is universal.
- nonrandomstring 3y agoHere's a document I am currently reading for my research [0]. It contains some interesting definitions I hope you find helpful. [0] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2021/653635/EXPO_STU(2021)653635_EN.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2021/6536...
- avgcorrection 3y agoHelpful? > Here, disinformation refers to false, inaccurate or misleading information designed, presented and promoted intentionally to cause public harm or make a profit. Is campaigning on lies a form of profit? You might win. These hypocrites really dare to present this as novel? Lying in politics? What’s really the practical difference between this ostensibly oh-so clearly demarcated “disinformation” and less outright other-information? The difference is having a discourse fog which makes it practically impossible to conclude anything without sinking into a quagmire of rhetoric. Here’s a “Beijing” statement, hypothetical: > We the people of China Ah! the eggheads exclaim. Propaganda! Clear disinformation since China is an authoritarian state (sorry, regime)—it can’t be a state “of the people”. Here’s a “Washington” statement: > The President does not suffer symptoms of senility What is this? This is twenty different articles and op-eds back and forth on this topic: - Well he went to the doctor 15 years ago and he said he was fine - My good friend Joe Biden would never become demented—he would rather [redacted] - I respect the President but it’s time for some young blood in leadership - As a close aide to the President, blah blah - He might not seem as sharp as 12 years ago but [diversion tactic] Isn’t it amazing—you cannot peddle outright disinformation if you are sufficiently powerful, almost by definition; there is always some clown who will bat for you. And the result? A discourse fog. No one is a liar. No one is peddling “disinformation for profit.” In conclusion: what we do are varying levels of information. But what these foreign forces do (because they are not here to defend themselves, and anyone who defends them (or just has a nuanced point of view) is just <regime>-puppet anyway) is disinformation because they clearly are X while they claim to be Y.
- mcmoor 3y agoIndonesia's election is next week and they also impose 3 day "quiet day" where no political campaign may occur. I don't know if we'll have internet shutdown though.
- pphysch 3y agoHow does cutting off communications prevent terrorist cells from executing their planned attacks? The real reason is obviously that the ruling elite usurped and imprisoned Pakistan's most popular leader, which means the political situation is very volatile.
- dageshi 3y agoBombs with mobile phones attached designed to trigger when the phone is called/texted?
- jasonjayr 3y agoCheap battery powered mesh radio devices could just as easily trigger something, and be difficult to trace.
- jstarfish 3y agoThese are terror attacks, not three people trying to shoot the same target in a motorcade. It impedes their situational awareness. If they're waiting on signals that never come, you win. If you capture one, he can't warn the others. You know what they say about plans and first contact with the enemy...
- jrockway 3y agoI guess it's not a terrorist attack if nobody knows about it. Imagine you see the news "Poll site in the Bronx firebombed" right before you head out to vote. You're going to think twice about voting. But if you don't see that news story, you'll just go vote, because you don't know there's a risk of being killed. The logic makes sense but I wouldn't like to see a media ban here. "Congress shall make no law..."
- TriNetra 3y agoIN Pakistan army decides and is the real ruler. Elections are only a face to appear as a democratic sate. In fact Pakistan elite (including army higher ranks) just is there to milk the country and build estates outside (West/UAE/etc).
- wozniacki 3y agoIsnt it also true that no democratically elected or coup-installed Prime Minister in Pakistan's history has ever successfully completed a single full term in office, ever since their independence[1]? And if that is true, isn't Pakistan a glorified tin-pot republic, thats democracy only on paper & manages to stay alive at the mercy of the propping-up prowess of U.S. and U.K., to act as a lily pad[2] of sorts in the region? [1] Every time the gov’t topples (no Pakistani Prime Minister has completed 5 years in office), corruption/looting reaches even higher levels… …to replenish and grow the bounty that was paid to buy out votes in elections and in the parliament. Sad, but v familiar to Pakistanis. 12:08 PM · Apr 9, 2022 https://twitter.com/bznotes/status/1512870199338287106 https://twitter.com/bznotes/status/1512870199338287106 [2] Cooperative security location https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_security_location https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_security_location
- lainga 3y agoFunny way to express the $65 billion of FDI that China's put into Pakistan, along with joint development of the JF-17 and 47% of China's arms exports as a whole, isn't it? Or has the near-total cut in US military aid to Pakistan over 2018-2022 been a delayed coup de grace, and should we expect the country to implode at any minute?
- kranke155 3y agoNobody can afford Pakistan to implode I think. The fact they have nuclear weapons is like a giant blackmail file on the entire world.
- user3939382 3y ago[flagged]
- apapapa 3y agoNo.
- 6510 3y agoIt seems an interesting idea in a weird way. Maybe redirect everything to the list of election programs. I would first get mad then read them.
- caseysoftware 3y agoMore specifically, shouldn't this be "Pakistan cuts off phone and internet services for civilians on election day"? I assume law enforcement, the military, and government officials are free to communicate and coordinate today.
- abdullahkhalids 3y agoThere were reports throughout the day, that Polling station officials who were having difficulties, had no way of contacting the Election Commission or other important government offices, because of this ban.
- PrimeMcFly 3y agoThis is pretty indefensible and indicates the results of this 'election' are likely fixed.
- throwaway2203 3y agoIt is known that they are, given the main opposition party's leader is jailed and they're not allowed to campaign.
- vundercind 3y agoWhy does it indicate that? Every election in every country took place without Internet or (meaningful amounts of) cell phone service not that long ago.
- PrimeMcFly 3y agoBecause in modern day the only reason to take that action is to manipulate votes.
- stainablesteel 3y agoi'm trying to understand how or why you would manipulate votes like this call me crazy but i think mass-scale communication is a better way to manipulate votes, it allows people far away from each other to coordinate their numbers but if you cut off their coordination mechanism they can't exchange information, and perhaps they might fear pushing out fake numbers in case the numbers of them plus a few others look strange. the best defense would be honesty
- PrimeMcFly 3y agoIf people are going to vote a certain way out of fear or due to having been misled, cutting off communication is a safeguard against those people caning their minds or being convinced by facts. Just for one example.
- 3y ago
- mtmail 3y ago2018 Algeria shut down internet during school exam season. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/21/algeria-shuts-internet-prevent-cheating-school-exams https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/21/algeria-shuts-... "Algeria is not, however, the only country to take such radical steps during exam season: Syria, Iraq, Mauritania, Uzbekistan and several Indian states reportedly block access to the internet. Ethiopia shuts down social media."
- lacy_tinpot 3y agoHow do you study then?
- vorticalbox 3y agowith a book? Or notes from class? Asking someone educated on the topic?
- srameshc 3y agoText books are still used in many parts of the world and all the course material are covered by those prescribed text books.
- jessriedel 3y agoAt least in Algeria, they only did it during 2-3 hours of the day when the tests were taken. > It published a timetable of the shutdown schedule: three one-hour blackouts, coinciding with the first hour of each baccalaureate exam, on Wednesday, and two each on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
- 1270018080 3y agoHow to study during an exam? I think you'd be taking it, not studying.
- rangerelf 3y agoYou're not serious, are you? Books? Notebooks? Even downloading to your reading device? Screenshots if everything else fails?
- snihalani 3y agoI bet some researcher will create a paper on productivity increase due to internet cut off days
- molsongolden 3y agoThis is not uncommon across the border in the Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Some years have seen dozens of connectivity blackouts with the stated goals of maintaining peace and order or disrupting terrorism.
- groos 3y ago[flagged]
- user_7832 3y ago> just in Kashmir where India cuts off all internet as a means of control over the population Just for perspective, the government would likely claim that there have been multiple violent/deadly attacks over years/decades, often against the Indian army. I am not going to comment on anything as to who is right or wrong beyond this because I barely know enough about the whole situation. All I know is that it is too complex for a single comment.
- user_7832 3y agoIf I am wrong I will be happy to correct my comment. Unfortunately a downvote does not provide much information.
- belltaco 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_of_Kashmiri_Hindus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_of_Kashmiri_Hindus
- boeingUH60 3y agoPakistan is a sad tale. A country of 200 million+ with almost no future. The elites are busy milking what’s left of the country before it flames out. The idiotic IMF continues giving them loans to support the extremely corrupt system..the US government also supports the extremely corrupt military. This is what happens when corruption is built into the culture of your society and religious/tribal hullabaloo is more prioritized than economic and social development.
- nurettin 3y ago[flagged]
- boeingUH60 3y agoNo it doesn’t. Stop trying to patronize a country’s dire situation to push your false narrative.
- nurettin 3y agoTrying to wha? This is just too freakish of an accusation to respond to.
- dang 3y agoI already responded to you above about starting this flamewar, but then you perpetuated it here by obviously breaking the site guidelines. We've had to warn you about this several times before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38286516 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38286516 (Nov 2023) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37460834 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37460834 (Sept 2023) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36656318 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36656318 (July 2023) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33850494 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33850494 (Dec 2022) Worse, you've been posting all sorts of comments like this recently: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39263540 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39263540 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39246417 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39246417 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39245246 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39245246 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39229835 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39229835 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39210350 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39210350 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39179655 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39179655 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39069363 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39069363 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39069055 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39069055 Scrolling further back yet, I see even more of this, so unfortunately I think we have little choice but to ban your account and I've done so. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. But this would mean dramatically changing the comments you post—I hope that's clear.
- H8crilA 3y agoThe craziest thing is that Pakistan has nuclear weapons. And not only that, the weapons are at the disposal of the local (very high ranking) commanders. It also is a country where the military is really in charge, only occasionally giving back the control to a civilian government. Sometimes people think that Eastern Europe is the most likely place to get nuked, or perhaps some American carrier off the coast of China. But in reality it's both Pakistan and India.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago> in reality it's both Pakistan and India Pakistan’s top brass is anti-India. They’re also somewhat rational. If Pakistan’s nukes are launched, it’s because the zealots took control. At that point, I’m betting on Israel or even one of the Arab monarchies (if not Islamabad itself) [1]. [1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Shaheen-III-missile-range.svg/300px-Shaheen-III-missile-range.svg.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Sh...
- rm_-rf_slash 3y ago>They’re also somewhat rational It only takes one generation to forget everything.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- alephnerd 3y ago> Pakistan’s top brass is anti-India The top brass tried to negotiate a normalization of relations with India in 2019 at the behest of the UAE and Saudi. It was supposed to be a legacy making policy of the former Chief of Army Staff Bajwa [0] but was scuttled by Imran Khan [1] There is a bit of Qatar+Turkiye versus Saudi+UAE intrigue in this as well, as Imran Khan leaned pro-Qatar and helped them bypass the Saudi+UAE lead blockade on Qatar [2], which was a no-no for Saudi and the UAE. Imran Khan had a decent domestic policy, but his foreign policy was basically pissing everyone off - from Saudi to UAE to India to the USA - and was what lead to his demise. [0] - https://tribune.com.pk/story/2417903/gen-bajwas-india-peace-plan https://tribune.com.pk/story/2417903/gen-bajwas-india-peace-... [1] - https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/imran-khan-on-the-failed-india-pakistan-thaw-and-why-hes-prepared-for-everything-even-death/ https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/imran-... [2] - https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2018-06-11/how-qatar-weathered-gulf-crisis https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2018-06-...
- 2devnull 3y agoHow else to prevent misinformation?
- foragerdev 3y agoI read the comments you guys probably have no idea what is going on in here. Let's talk about it from the start. It's 2021 and Imran Khan is the PM of Pakistan and US is leaving Afghanistan. Now US would certainly want to have their military airbases in Pakistan to keep an eye on Taliban government, they made an undercover request which was denied by Imran Khan on a Tv interview[1]. Which really unpleased the Biden Government. And then they started to hatch a plan to oust him. It finally started to happen in the start of 2022. The plan was to remove him through vote of no confidence. But Imran Khan found out, a US official formally asked to Pakistan Ambassador for removing him as PM through VONC, otherwise Pakistan will face consequences. Which happened in the most dramatic way by buying the members of Imran Khans party. You will be surprised to know that Pakistan Army was on paper with US. And that cipher was actually for Qamar Jawad Bajwa the Army chief of Pakistan forces. Well he was ousted. He was ousted but not defeated. The day he was removed masses protested on the streets of Pakistan. He just wanted them to hold elections so that people can get to choose. For that he resolved his 2 provincial assemblies. In the mean while he survived 2 assassination attempts one time narrowly escaped the gun shots and second time planned killing by a moob. According to Pakistani law after the dissolving assemblies Election commission has to hold elections within 90 days which did not happen until 2 years. And in 2023 August National Assemblies also completed its tenure. Which supposed to get members within 90 days. Which did not happen as well. Again abrogation of law. During this time, as Imran Khan party named PTI (Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf) was popular. They tried to break his party through false flag operations against him accusing him for the master planner of attach on a military houses(termed 9th May) by his supporters who were protesting against his illegal arrest from the courtyard of High Court Islamabad. Hence they dismantled his party in a the most funny way possible. They will hostage someone and ask him to do press conference and confess that Imran Khan is the planner for 9th May. Thousand of supporters including women and party members was arrested and lots disappeared. And then the announced the elections on 8th Feb. But they sentenced him for 24 years in different cases and dissolved their marriage accusing him for marrying his current wife before his period is done and sentenced 7 years both him and his wife. And Pakistan Supreme court took his party official sign for voters and declared each of his candidates contesting as independent. So today was 8th February and election day, to prevent his voters from voting they turned of Mobile service which is still of at the time of writing and you will be surprised to know his party won with simple majority and election results are still awaiting. You may get an Idea what is happening in here. And you will be surprised to know this 21st century regime change operation is going in Pakistan with the help of Pakistan Army by USA. And since then whenever us official were asked about Pakistan they replied this is according to the Laws of Pakistan. But they do not reply the same for Iran or Venezuela. We want people to raise the voice of Pakistanis. [1]: https://www.dawn.com/news/1630278 https://www.dawn.com/news/1630278
- et-al 3y agoPakistan's neighbor, India, has also been shutting off the internet quite a bit. 84 times in 2022: - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/25/a-tool-of-political-control-how-india-became-the-world-leader-in-internet-blackouts https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/25/a-tool-of-poli... And Punjab had its internet severely restricted last March: - https://www.wired.com/story/india-activist-manhunt-sikh-activist/ https://www.wired.com/story/india-activist-manhunt-sikh-acti... - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/21/punjab-internet-blackout-hunt-sikh-preacher-amritpal-singh-sandhu https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/21/punjab-interne... (I post this as someone who loves the subcontinent.)
- arjunaanand 3y agoRead the article and comment is misleading. It happened in very very few cities and for times when riots were being incited. On other hand, Pakistan is all country internet washout and that multiple days in same week. Number is more than 100 in 365 days.
- notpushkin 3y ago> It happened in very very few cities and for times when riots were being incited. I mean, it's still bad. Not as bad as Pakistan, but still.
- ivanjermakov 3y agoSeems like a normal practice for dictatorship-like countries. Happened too in Belarus in 2020: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%932021_Belarusian_protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%932021_Belarusian_p...
- euroderf 3y agoBack in the days before teh interwebz were invented... What if the gov't could shut off political advertising on TV for (say) 48 hours before any national election ? Candidates fall back on print(ed) media and radio. This would cut off many problems (imho). Opportunity missed. And, too late now.
- alephnerd 3y ago> Candidates fall back on print(ed) media and radio Back in the day before the interwebz the army would just jail those in the media who didn't toe the line, and curtail access of the printed word. The internet offered a way to disseminate information independent of other more controlled ways.
- jakub_g 3y agoThis has been a standard practice in many countries https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_silence https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_silence
- chrisjj 3y ago> Pakistan has temporarily suspended mobile phone network And not the fixed one?
- muststopmyths 3y agoThe intent isn't to block voice calls, but (probably) spreading of misinformation via social networks and group chat apps. Where the definition of "misinformation" is up to the government.
- chrisjj 3y ago> The intent isn't to block voice calls Then I wonder why they are blocking voice calls.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- foragerdev 3y agoThe idea is to stop people from encouraging others to vote. So they can keep the turnout as low as possible. Usually people who are politically motivated force their friends or relatives to cast vote.
- FredPret 3y agoIt'd be so cool if all our phones & laptops could have globally-unique addresses and talk to one another directly in a big global mesh. You'd still need cables and satellites to deal with rural areas and to cross oceans, but you couldn't really switch that off. Free speech would go through the roof!
- chupchap 3y agoGlobally-unique addresses are also easier to censor
- FredPret 3y agoIf devices talk directly to one another there's very little a central authority could do to censor communication
- NoMoreNicksLeft 3y agoIt might be true that devices could connect across the US-Canadian border, but most borders are dead spots. I suspect that, when territory was being scammed, stolen, claimed, fought over, whatever... borders tend to develop in those places where there isn't a big population. And those borders have tended to remain empty. There will be exceptions, but not enough to matter. Short of science fiction devices, I dunno wormholes or split-particle pairs or whatever, I don't think this is viable.
- FredPret 3y agoTrue, most connections would be within individual cities, so you would definitely need it to hook servers and satellites into the mesh so you can cross dead zones. But that would already be a huge win for humanity.
- throwaway894345 3y agoPresumably the people who control the data links between population centers could just cut off the Internet, no? Doesn't that largely defeat the anti-censorship advantages of something like this?
- amelius 3y agoWell if you look at the US it's not like anyone can honestly say that the internet has had a very positive impact on the democratic process ...
- page_fault_9 3y ago[flagged]
- Imnimo 3y agoI don't understand what the government's story is here. How exactly does shutting down cell service "combat possible threats"?
- j45 3y agoWow, thinking of the actually talented distributed workers in that part of the world.