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#digital rights

August 2026 1 note

ideas 2 min read

Circumventing state-imposed internet blackouts

AI summary

Doug highlights Bitchat, an app enabling offline communication via Bluetooth, which proved useful during internet blackouts in India. He suggests promoting its use among contacts and notes its decentralised nature makes it resistant to state-imposed blocks.

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June 2026 3 notes

notes updated 2 min read

The UK is a hostile (online) environment

AI summary

Due to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 and Online Safety Act 2023, the UK has become a hostile online environment for activists, leading the We Are Open Co-op to host Amnesty International UK’s community platform outside the country. Internet lawyer Neil Brown shares these concerns and is considering routing some of his traffic through servers outside the UK to preserve access and privacy.

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ideas updated 1 min read

What you gonna do, Luke Skywalker?

AI summary

Anthropic now requires government-issued ID for some Claude features, using Peter Thiel-backed Persona. The author worries this could enable nationalist or fascistic export controls on AI usage. They outline three responses: comply with obfuscation, run everything locally, or join a cooperative compute network.

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notes 1 min read

Surveillance is not safety

AI summary

The note criticizes the UK government's mandate for encryption backdoors under the guise of child safety, citing Signal's response that such surveillance does not protect children. Signal argues that real child safety requires education, social services, and AI guardrails, not invisible surveillance infrastructure.

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