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I can't find it easily now, but it was Zerkalo reporting on yet another person returning to Belarus caught at the Poland border. The conclusion was that despite

I can't find it easily now, but it was Zerkalo reporting on yet another person returning to Belarus caught at the Poland border. The conclusion was that despite not being subscribed to one of the "terrorists channel" (for readers not from Belarus - news channels, that are posting news not in favor of the state), mere opening such channel will cache images from such channel locally. When authorities grab the phone, they make full dump of it and look for illegal stuff. And mere possession of such image is enough to get locked up. Proposed solution was - disable all media caching in Telegram.

avodonosov 2y ago
If you find the source in the coming days, while the HN thread is not yet blocked for posting - please share. I'd like to be aware of facts like this. Question. If you read Belarusian news, have you noticed that tut.by, being a quite decent, balanced news site in, say, 2013, 2014, in last years of its existence, maybe 2018, 2019, 2020 was quickly degrading, somewhere towards the Radio of the Thousand Hills? Deliberately falsifying the picture of reality for its readers? (Personally, by the beginning of 2020, long before the election, I had a text in mind, called "Осторожно, tut.by". Just didn't have time to write it up and publish.)
- hippich 2y ago
  I did not notice deliberate attempts like that, but in the vacuum created post 2020 there is not much left to be trusted besides zerkalo. They rely on sources they likely can not verify all the time, and as such they do make mistakes occasionally and post corrections - this indeed happens from time to time. If you have suggestions of better source of news - please share.
  - avodonosov 2y ago
    I can't suggest good sources, but I can suggest a method. The Scientific Method. For news reading, in a nutshell, it means to search for information that contradict one's views. Because one of the main methods of manipulations today is selective presentation of true facts. There are no sources to be trusted. And let me warn you against trusting Zerkalo. But armed with the scientific method, one can use any propaganda as an informative source. And the more it contradicts one's views the more informative it is. On the other hand, reading confirmations of what one saw already confirmed many times is basically a waste of time. My attempt for a more elaborate version of this: http://avodonosov.blogspot.com/2024/09/scientific-method-for-news-reading-and.html http://avodonosov.blogspot.com/2024/09/scientific-method-for... As for the deliberate manipulations and back to the HN topic. Have you noticed that the Iranian man was sentenced "after" tweeting a dot? Not "because", not "for" , but simply "after"? If you read the article, there is no evidence of causal link between the dot posted and the arrest. The arrest just happened chronologically after. The actual charges are different and the man has a long history of being at odds with the ruling regime. I think that's an intentionally misleading title. And you seem fallen for it, replying "what for people in Belarus are being locked up".
    - hippich 2y ago
      I mean.... It is sorta implied. No belarusians are locked up for "unsanctioned public protest" or "spreading extremist information", all of them are locked up to teach them a lesson and promote fear in society of acting or voicing against regime. I do personally know people locked up for 2+ years for clicking the like button (and not after clicking on the button) on the article in telegram. While it is not cached news issue I mentioned above - it is not a leap from one to another. I also know people who's phones were picked up at the crossing border in airport, seemingly randomly, and thoroughly examined. Connecting two together is not a leap of imagination too. I understand why the regime is posting all these "confession videos" - it is the same propaganda, but aiming to coral people into being afraid to read news. And it seems to work. (And in a way opposition media is helping regime with this task.) And no, I am not suggesting to not read. Someone on hn is plenty equipped to get through these things technologically, without becoming another piece of regime propaganda and/or getting their life ruined. It is absurdity of what people in civilized country in 21st century are subjected to is what drives me nuts.
      - avodonosov 2y ago
        You mean the other charges are just formality, while the real reason is the dot posted on twitter? No, just because they have bigger real reasons to lock him up. The man is "a longtime critic of Iran’s leadership", was already imprisoned for that once. After returning from prison he continued his writings. The dot is not the single action he took against the regime. I hope it's clear I am not supporting the arrest. I just don't like fakes. > I do personally know people locked up for 2+ years for clicking the like button (and not after clicking on the button) on the article in telegram. What are the official charges? I did a quick search. Actions like this fall under article 19.11 of the Administrative Code. (https://etalonline.by/document/?regnum=hk2100091 https://etalonline.by/document/?regnum=hk2100091). Distribution, production, or possession with the goal of distribution, of information products containing calls to extremist activity. Likes and subscriptions to such sources may be considered their endorsement and also fall under this article. https://www.court.gov.by/ru/mogilevskij/oblastnoj/sud/press_sluzhba/soobscheniya/press_sluzhbi/c0e47a2d48a94565.html https://www.court.gov.by/ru/mogilevskij/oblastnoj/sud/press_... https://lida.gov.by/printv/ru/2023-edi-ru/view/o-merax-protivodejstvija-ekstremizmu-i-terrorizmu-reabilitatsii-natsizma-otvetstvennost-za-registratsiju-na-23660/ https://lida.gov.by/printv/ru/2023-edi-ru/view/o-merax-proti... (I know you probably can't access the URLs from abroad, maybe will post screenshots later). But the penalties under this article do not include prison. It can result in fine, confiscation of the device used, administrative arrest (max 15 days), community service. Aren't you confusing people who got 2+ years in prison for a like with people who say they got 2+ years in prison for a like? Overall, that's not a topic for the HN forum, but let me say that the political views you (and many others) seem to have, are mistaken, in my opinion. The mistake is not in what you see. The suppression of the protest exists, although maybe not in such extreme form as you think. The mistake is in the gigantic "elephants in the room" that you don't see and don't account for.
- hippich 2y ago
  quick search failed me at finding actual news article, here are recommendations for both Telegram and Viber regarding cached media files - https://news.zerkalo.io/life/69371.html https://news.zerkalo.io/life/69371.html
  - avodonosov 2y ago
    I know people who experienced various degrees of consequences after 2020. I know people who often cross border. But haven't heard of anyone arrested for a cached media. I neither study this subject, nor watch it closely. And I can imagine anything. But until I see real facts of such arrests, I will stay in doubt. And will continue reading whatever I want.

avodonosov 2y ago

If you find the source in the coming days, while the HN thread is not yet blocked for posting - please share. I'd like to be aware of facts like this. Question. If you read Belarusian news, have you noticed that tut.by, being a quite decent, balanced news site in, say, 2013, 2014, in last years of its existence, maybe 2018, 2019, 2020 was quickly degrading, somewhere towards the Radio of the Thousand Hills? Deliberately falsifying the picture of reality for its readers? (Personally, by the beginning of 2020, long before the election, I had a text in mind, called "Осторожно, tut.by". Just didn't have time to write it up and publish.)

hippich 2y ago
I did not notice deliberate attempts like that, but in the vacuum created post 2020 there is not much left to be trusted besides zerkalo. They rely on sources they likely can not verify all the time, and as such they do make mistakes occasionally and post corrections - this indeed happens from time to time. If you have suggestions of better source of news - please share.
- avodonosov 2y ago
  I can't suggest good sources, but I can suggest a method. The Scientific Method. For news reading, in a nutshell, it means to search for information that contradict one's views. Because one of the main methods of manipulations today is selective presentation of true facts. There are no sources to be trusted. And let me warn you against trusting Zerkalo. But armed with the scientific method, one can use any propaganda as an informative source. And the more it contradicts one's views the more informative it is. On the other hand, reading confirmations of what one saw already confirmed many times is basically a waste of time. My attempt for a more elaborate version of this: http://avodonosov.blogspot.com/2024/09/scientific-method-for-news-reading-and.html http://avodonosov.blogspot.com/2024/09/scientific-method-for... As for the deliberate manipulations and back to the HN topic. Have you noticed that the Iranian man was sentenced "after" tweeting a dot? Not "because", not "for" , but simply "after"? If you read the article, there is no evidence of causal link between the dot posted and the arrest. The arrest just happened chronologically after. The actual charges are different and the man has a long history of being at odds with the ruling regime. I think that's an intentionally misleading title. And you seem fallen for it, replying "what for people in Belarus are being locked up".
  - hippich 2y ago
    I mean.... It is sorta implied. No belarusians are locked up for "unsanctioned public protest" or "spreading extremist information", all of them are locked up to teach them a lesson and promote fear in society of acting or voicing against regime. I do personally know people locked up for 2+ years for clicking the like button (and not after clicking on the button) on the article in telegram. While it is not cached news issue I mentioned above - it is not a leap from one to another. I also know people who's phones were picked up at the crossing border in airport, seemingly randomly, and thoroughly examined. Connecting two together is not a leap of imagination too. I understand why the regime is posting all these "confession videos" - it is the same propaganda, but aiming to coral people into being afraid to read news. And it seems to work. (And in a way opposition media is helping regime with this task.) And no, I am not suggesting to not read. Someone on hn is plenty equipped to get through these things technologically, without becoming another piece of regime propaganda and/or getting their life ruined. It is absurdity of what people in civilized country in 21st century are subjected to is what drives me nuts.
    - avodonosov 2y ago
      You mean the other charges are just formality, while the real reason is the dot posted on twitter? No, just because they have bigger real reasons to lock him up. The man is "a longtime critic of Iran’s leadership", was already imprisoned for that once. After returning from prison he continued his writings. The dot is not the single action he took against the regime. I hope it's clear I am not supporting the arrest. I just don't like fakes. > I do personally know people locked up for 2+ years for clicking the like button (and not after clicking on the button) on the article in telegram. What are the official charges? I did a quick search. Actions like this fall under article 19.11 of the Administrative Code. (https://etalonline.by/document/?regnum=hk2100091 https://etalonline.by/document/?regnum=hk2100091). Distribution, production, or possession with the goal of distribution, of information products containing calls to extremist activity. Likes and subscriptions to such sources may be considered their endorsement and also fall under this article. https://www.court.gov.by/ru/mogilevskij/oblastnoj/sud/press_sluzhba/soobscheniya/press_sluzhbi/c0e47a2d48a94565.html https://www.court.gov.by/ru/mogilevskij/oblastnoj/sud/press_... https://lida.gov.by/printv/ru/2023-edi-ru/view/o-merax-protivodejstvija-ekstremizmu-i-terrorizmu-reabilitatsii-natsizma-otvetstvennost-za-registratsiju-na-23660/ https://lida.gov.by/printv/ru/2023-edi-ru/view/o-merax-proti... (I know you probably can't access the URLs from abroad, maybe will post screenshots later). But the penalties under this article do not include prison. It can result in fine, confiscation of the device used, administrative arrest (max 15 days), community service. Aren't you confusing people who got 2+ years in prison for a like with people who say they got 2+ years in prison for a like? Overall, that's not a topic for the HN forum, but let me say that the political views you (and many others) seem to have, are mistaken, in my opinion. The mistake is not in what you see. The suppression of the protest exists, although maybe not in such extreme form as you think. The mistake is in the gigantic "elephants in the room" that you don't see and don't account for.
hippich 2y ago
quick search failed me at finding actual news article, here are recommendations for both Telegram and Viber regarding cached media files - https://news.zerkalo.io/life/69371.html https://news.zerkalo.io/life/69371.html
- avodonosov 2y ago
  I know people who experienced various degrees of consequences after 2020. I know people who often cross border. But haven't heard of anyone arrested for a cached media. I neither study this subject, nor watch it closely. And I can imagine anything. But until I see real facts of such arrests, I will stay in doubt. And will continue reading whatever I want.