PSA: if you're talking about doing actual political violence on social media in public, you are a dangerously ignorant twerp who lacks the situational awareness required to do anything useful for anyone.
well, speaking as someone who used to report in a dictatorship on how activists were using the internet and has talked to a lot of people who were jailed for online speech, i can assure you that even fascist regimes usually pick and choose targets, and it's good to avoid being one.
Ppl need to remember that even totalitarian regimes have limited prosecutorial resources. China spends a gargantuan amount of money on internal security and it was only able to arrest a small portion of the COVID lockdown protesters who challenged its authority a little while ago.
I guess I just don't find the argument of "don't be the unlucky bunny who gets shot by the totalitarian regime" to be particularly useful advice right now.
It will certainly keep your comms safe, but if the softest, most orderly thing you can organize thru secure opsec is going to be met by riot cops -- with the robust support of the gov't and press -- we still have a problem.
At least it's easy to remember sound cannons can't penetrate umbrellas.
If you post any dissent and it goes viral, you may want to consider deleting it. No matter what it is. Even if it is not advocating “direct action.”
Right now there is a big difference between “I’m going to…”, “someone should…” and “Biden should…” but if Trump gets re-elected there may not be.
There are 330M people in America, and at most tens of thousands actively participating in the fascist regime project.
They don’t need an excuse, but their attention is extremely limited.
So, if you’re planning to be a malcontent, don’t advertise that fact
They usually do, actually. Or at least, I'm not sure they *need* one but given how often they *have* them it looks like they often *think* they need it. They can manufacture one to be sure but how much work it is for them probably matters at the margin.
Yes, of course they don’t *need* one.
This does not mean that it’s therefore pointless to try to cover your tracks and to avoid being seen, and it’s fascinatingly weird to me that some people are interpreting what I’m saying this way.
And I started my career reporting in a dictatorship on how activists were using the internet, and I’ve spoken with a number of people who have done hard time for blogging and online activities. They all are pretty big on comms security!
I took great pleasure when the threat hunting team at work admitted that they couldn't find my online presence. Not that I have anything to hide if course... 😬
I think we're in agreement. Like I said, fly low and stay cool, but that's no guarantee.
Shouting from a bullhorn in the square pretty much guarantees a short career, though.
have you actually ever lived under a fascist government? I have, the pretext is always needed. What happens after is the overreach and where everything else goes out the window, but it is NEVER "didnt like your face so the vans are coming" there is always an excuse, so why hand one over?
seriously - it becomes very, very obvious who’s actually dealt with modern fascist governments before and who hasn’t whenever these conversations happen
Not a govt, but
Someone threatened by literal Nazis needed to hunker down
We made a plan
Intermediary between targeted party and safe house had op sec protocols explained in detail. Vehicle changes, burner phones, no texts or calls going forward
Person started TEXTING ALL PARTIES about plan
No more plan. You blew it. Safe house and two layers of intermediaries burned. You think Nazis don’t have IT? You think that you, known to be close to target person can’t get knocked over and your phone taken by Nazis? You think FBI is all Good Guys, no compromises?
Merde!
If you'll permit a shitpost that's really an opportunity for you to respond and clarify why I'm wrong, I'm going to ask it. Here's the shitpost question:
So what you're saying is, if fascism is coming, comply in advance?
it’s not complying to avoid posting violent stuff online in public and to follow basic cybersecurity best practices, and it is in fact a good idea to do these things even when fascists aren’t in charge
I notice that you’ve been getting an awful lot of stick for recommending people take a little bit of care. Just wanted to let you know that I appreciate the warning and deleted all my even borderline posts and reposts. I’ve probably got a file from eons ago and shouldn’t be borrowing extra trouble.
you do realize I was explicitly saying the gotcha was *not* going to land - but it was what a reader might well be thinking - and I wanted to give Faine the opportunity to respond to it.
Sorry. It's just that saying "don't say things on social media that will attract trouble from the jackboots once they're in power" bears at least a little similarity to someone saying "make sure to comply in advance with the upcoming restrictions on freedom of expression".
whats being said is "you are hurting both the cause you represent and the people you love if youre gonna be picked up by the people you hate and nullified over random shitposts made in (choose strong emotion)."
