India cuts internet around New Delhi as protesting farmers clash with police (opens in new tab)

(cnn.com)

39 pointspendu5y ago14 comments

14 comments

Since authoritarian governments noticed that this is something they can actually do, it seems as if it's becoming more and more popular. Will be interesting to see when this first happens in an European or American country.

Nasrudith5y ago

It probably wouldn't happen (or at least shouldn't if they aren't complete morons) for the most amoral reason - how much it would cost.

The damage is in opportunity costs to businesses and after it happens the disruption causes them to lose/fail contracts and either go out of business or leave and flip the country on harsh terms as they are rightfully pissed at the large scale losses they took from them and to paraphrase George Harrison on Manilla "would only return to drop a bomb on the country." America and Europe would have more to lose not that it has stopped the latter before (WWI).

The wrinkles in such optimism are "Great Firewall" style more targetted systems and their own market clout.

A small scale example was pulled in America already almost a decade ago by BART pulling a Mubarak that disturbingly left open the option even as they rightfully rebuked them for breaking FCC law.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/08/barts-cell-phone-shutd...

2Gkashmiri5y ago

someone who has been suffering for over 500 days now because of india's shutdown of my internet access, its only a matter of time that they taste their own medicine. internet clampdown in kashmir was and is being advertised as a fight against "anti national propaganda" disregarding the real world loss and suffering such blockades are causing but when it comes to themselves, its "protecting democracy". my ass.

ncmncm5y ago

"... clash with police" almost always means "are viciously attacked by police".

slezyr5y ago

Have you seen the video? They are chasing the police with the tractors.

fakedang5y ago

The funny part is how most of the whacko protesters doing such shit almost always turn out to be implanted members of the ruling party.

2Gkashmiri5y ago

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/delhi-police-on-cops-photo-i...

this looks like jousting to me, against unarmed civilians no less

vondur5y ago

According to the linked article an Officer was attacked with a sword and seriously injured. These officers on their own accord came up with the armor and weapons, and it was later confiscated from them.

chanmad295y ago

I am not pro-violence from any party involved, but I know that it is not always one sided, at least in India. We tend to back the David taking on the government Goliath a bit too vociferously.

villgax5y ago

Coz screw everyone else in that vicinity studying/working/whatever with mobile internet.

villgax5y ago

MPs from the ruling party were bemoaning when Twitter was enforcing ToS a few backs. And now they have no stance on cutting the entire access to internet just because of protests.

reacharavindh5y ago

Is it another risk that needs to be factored into critical services? For example hospital systems that rely on network any essential medical services(like remote labs or such)..

known5y ago

This is why in 1932 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._R._Ambedkar demanded a separate country to 300 million Aborigines in India;

https://www.quora.com/Which-caste-is-looting-India/answers/2...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manusmriti

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Indian_history

1cvmask5y ago

What do we do about the Internet companies who are also censorship platforms. Should India censor the censorers as well?

The authoritarian government of English Prime Minister David Cameron threatened to cut off the Blackbery messenger service during the London riots/protests.

https://www.prweek.com/article/1084907/david-cameron-comes-f...

The French government of authoritarian Macron (the aspirational dictator):

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/13/tech/french-hate-speech-s...

Google (Youtube) censoring an academic censorship conference:

http://www.schoolinfosystem.org/2021/02/04/not-the-onion-aca...

So we should have a discussion on authoritarian companies like we do on authoritarian governments like the UK and France and Germany where there is no free speech.

And lets not forget the authoritarian (under both Obama and Trump) US and UK governments in torturing the news publisher Julian Assange.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

14 comments

meibo5y ago

Nasrudith5y ago

It probably wouldn't happen (or at least shouldn't if they aren't complete morons) for the most amoral reason - how much it would cost.

The wrinkles in such optimism are "Great Firewall" style more targetted systems and their own market clout.

A small scale example was pulled in America already almost a decade ago by BART pulling a Mubarak that disturbingly left open the option even as they rightfully rebuked them for breaking FCC law.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/08/barts-cell-phone-shutd...

2Gkashmiri5y ago

ncmncm5y ago

"... clash with police" almost always means "are viciously attacked by police".

slezyr5y ago

Have you seen the video? They are chasing the police with the tractors.

fakedang5y ago

The funny part is how most of the whacko protesters doing such shit almost always turn out to be implanted members of the ruling party.

2Gkashmiri5y ago

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/delhi-police-on-cops-photo-i...

this looks like jousting to me, against unarmed civilians no less

vondur5y ago

chanmad295y ago

I am not pro-violence from any party involved, but I know that it is not always one sided, at least in India. We tend to back the David taking on the government Goliath a bit too vociferously.

villgax5y ago

Coz screw everyone else in that vicinity studying/working/whatever with mobile internet.

villgax5y ago

MPs from the ruling party were bemoaning when Twitter was enforcing ToS a few backs. And now they have no stance on cutting the entire access to internet just because of protests.

reacharavindh5y ago

Is it another risk that needs to be factored into critical services? For example hospital systems that rely on network any essential medical services(like remote labs or such)..

known5y ago

This is why in 1932 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._R._Ambedkar demanded a separate country to 300 million Aborigines in India;

https://www.quora.com/Which-caste-is-looting-India/answers/2...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manusmriti

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Indian_history

1cvmask5y ago

What do we do about the Internet companies who are also censorship platforms. Should India censor the censorers as well?

The authoritarian government of English Prime Minister David Cameron threatened to cut off the Blackbery messenger service during the London riots/protests.

https://www.prweek.com/article/1084907/david-cameron-comes-f...

The French government of authoritarian Macron (the aspirational dictator):

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/13/tech/french-hate-speech-s...

Google (Youtube) censoring an academic censorship conference:

http://www.schoolinfosystem.org/2021/02/04/not-the-onion-aca...

So we should have a discussion on authoritarian companies like we do on authoritarian governments like the UK and France and Germany where there is no free speech.

And lets not forget the authoritarian (under both Obama and Trump) US and UK governments in torturing the news publisher Julian Assange.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse