India first democracy to ban encrypted messaging apps on a massive scale.

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Only days before Press Freedom Day, India banned apps for secure communication because of "terrorists" use.​

India first democracy to ban encrypted messaging apps on massive scale.

Only days before Press Freedom Day, India banned apps for secure communication because of "terrorists" use.

tutanota.com

Tired of this Western virtue signalling. The West goes on about HR, values and democracy but when their country is under threat all these homilies go out the window. But India must not do it. That is called double standards or plain hypocrisy.

They don't have a half-front to deal with. Internal problems in which lives are lost and the govt is held responsible. Because they are and it is their job to secure us from adversaries external as well as internal.

Govt blocks 14 mobile apps on terror suspicion

A source said that on the recommendation of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), apps including Wickrme, Mediafire, Briar, BChat, Nandbox, Conion, IMO and Zangi were blocked.

indianexpress.com

According to a central intelligence officer, they recommended action after finding that these apps were being used by terrorists and their supporters to communicate with their on-ground workers (OGW) in J&K. “These apps do not have any representatives in India and cannot be contacted for seeking information as mandated by the Indian laws,” a source said.

You know the problem in J&K since 370 got revoked? it's been too quiet and the handlers across the border are under intense pressure to get things going again and failing.

The G20 meeting in Srinagar went without issue much to the consternation of the Pakis. How could this happen? How was it even possible? Biloo even issued a threat to the effect that things would be done that India would never forget. Yeah, these are the kind of neighbours we have.

So there is a very strong incentive to disrupt the peace, to discourage investment into J&K because once that gets going the conflict economy they have so carefully nurtured for the last thirty years is gone for good.

There used to be a time when you could get a sim card without having to provide any decent ID. In that era, we used to get terrorists calling up news stations and issuing threats. The moment that loophole got closed these calls and subsequent attacks came down dramatically.

This statement makes India's argumentation on why the block was necessary look less convincing. It would be very worrisome if India - as the first democratically elected government - goes down the same path as authoritarian governments like Iran and Russia where encrypted communication tools are blocked on a massive scale already.

Coincidentally, we in a coalition with 45+ organizations warned against exactly such a development in democratic countries in an open letter on Press Freedom Day - so around the same time as India issued the ban on these 14 apps.

Russia and Iran are subject to active regime change operations by the West. They are within their rights to stop such activities. This is not a question of democrat or not. It's about subversion being used against the state.

Dec '21 there were some cost of living protests in Kazakhstan. The Russians sent over some special forces to help the Kazakh state. A curfew was declared with shoot-on-sight orders. Over a year later I never heard of any more protests on this subject in Astana.

The inspiration for tighter FCRA rules happened in 2015. It would be many years until I understood the reason. Western NGOs were used in Ukraine to topple a democratically elected govt and it was completely brazen and succeeded and this is why we have a conflict there today.

These governments tend to neglect that encryption brings safety - to all of us. We must not take privacy away from all citizens as this would make the web as such completely insecure.

So long as you don't have internal issues as some countries do.

Ever heard of the third intifada? No, you have not. Know why? because the Israelis infiltrated whatsapp and disputed the messaging so protesters could not organise and stretch the Israeli state to breaking point. I remember at the time ISIS in their magazine warning their operatives to never use whatsapp as it was not safe. This is why I don't understand why govts are trying to restrict whatsapp because my understanding is encrypted messaging or not the services can see what they need.

"Some governments see undermining encryption as the most effective way to combat the ills of terrorism or other illegal behaviour. That approach is completely flawed; it just removes ordinary people’s ability to communicate in private which leaves them vulnerable to all types of surveillance, crime and subjugation." "In actual fact, end-to-end encryption strengthens national security which is why Element has various parts of the French, German, Swedish, UK and US governments as customers.""Undermining end-to-end encryption is an attack on people’s basic human right to privacy and security of communications. Rather than accept that as a cost to pay, we look to preserve and protect those rights, and to work with governments, journalists, non-profits, academic researchers and the rest of the tech industry to rise to the challenge of reducing those harms."

If fifty to a hundred people die tomorrow as a result of these apps who takes the blame?

This argument is flawed when states are under active challenge by entities determined to do it harm. And using technology as a force multiplier.

This is a next-to-impossible job to do. The pass mark is 100%. Anything less you failed as a state.

You can prevent 99 attacks but fail one and that is what everyone will be talking about.

This is not about spying on citizens, presumably all of them which no state has the resources for. It's about being able to locate specific users that are suspect and being able to proceed with whatever investigations.

Apart from these encrypted chat apps that are banned in Jammu and Kashmir, India is known for banning apps, particularly Chinese ones such PUBG Mobile, WeChat, and TikTok.

Clearly ignorant of the reasons behind which are user data theft and a way to get back at China. A pioneering and brilliant move by the Modi govt which other govts are trying to emulate but failing for various reasons.

Who exactly is Tuantota? they provide encrypted end-to-end email. This post is because a huge market is now lost to them. The other apps are in the same boat as well. So this is a group effort.

Know what's going on

 

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This post is because a huge market is now lost to them

How exactly is Tutanota affected by this? and people who use Tutanota usually access it with Tor.

 

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India’s War On Terror: Govt Blocks 14 Mobile Apps to Disrupt Terrorist Activities in J&K, Check The Full List

NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at curbing terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government has blocked 14 mobile messenger applications, including popular apps such as Wickrme, IMO, and Threema. The decision was taken on the recommendation of various defense forces, security...

www.the420.in

Explains the reasons by the security forces

According to sources, most of these apps were designed to provide anonymity to their users, making it difficult for security agencies to trace the entities associated with them. These apps did not have representatives in India, and the app management could not be contacted for seeking information as mandated by Indian laws.

The Indian government has been trying to dent the communication network of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir for the past few years. The apps that have been blocked have servers in different countries, making them tough to trace, and there is no way to intercept them due to heavy encryption.

Going by the date beginning of May it seems to be a pre-emptive move to ensure the G20 Srinagar meet held in the last week went ahead without any issues.

I'd been tracking these groups in '20 and one day had a good laugh. See attached to understand why infiltration matters