definitelyRobot

Not all media, but many (or most) Indian news outlets are.

HTTPS, and a throwaway account that cannot be linked to me. I live in an urban area where the internet isn't very restricted (other than DNS-level blocks for porn and piracy sites). The same is not there for the people in Kashmir, who have had very little (and severely restricted) access to the internet in the past eight months or so.

As a young tech person in India, this stuff makes me so angry. The ruling party here (BJP) doesn't have any real competition. Which means they can get away with pretty much anything.

They've banned VPNs. They'll chuck you in prison if you speak against the government or a politician. Then they'll brand you as an "anti-nationalist" and openly say to their supporters that you deserve to be shot.

Facial recognition is now being used to identify protestors. Bots and deepfakes are being used to spread propoganda.

Many people are upset, but there's nothing we can do. We can't speak out without fear of being reprimanded. We can vote for other parties, but there's no way that they'll ever win. The majority of the population has blind faith in BJP. The only demographic that appears to realise the implications well enough is the youth in urban areas - a very insignificant fraction of the nation's population.

Even the media is afraid to speak out against BJP because if they do then they get attacked by physical and virtual mobs.

It's a shame. So much potential.

Leaving social media.

This is so sad. They've directly sold to and targeted kids. E-cigs are banned in my country, and yet almost every fourteen year old in ruban areas has a juul in their pocket.

Fuck this company, and fuck anyone who sells nicotine to children. It's very harmful for developing children, and tese addictions can ruin lives.