Maybe the Most Orwellian Text Message a Government's Ever Sent

[n2doc]

By Brian Merchant

“Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance.”

That's a text message that thousands of Ukrainian protesters spontaneously received on their cell phones today, as a new law prohibiting public demonstrations went into effect. It was the regime's police force, sending protesters the perfectly dystopian text message to accompany the newly minted, perfectly dystopian legislation. In fact, it's downright Orwellian (and I hate that adjective, and only use it when absolutely necessary, I swear).

But that's what this is: it's technology employed to detect noncompliance, to hone in on dissent. The NY Times reports that the "Ukrainian government used telephone technology to pinpoint the locations of cell phones in use near clashes between riot police officers and protesters early on Tuesday." Near. Using a cell phone near a clash lands you on the regime's hit list.

See, Kiev is tearing itself to shreds right now, but since we're kind of burned out on protests, riots, and revolutions at the moment, it's being treated below-the-fold news. Somehow, the fact that over a million people are marching, camping out, and battling with Ukraine's increasingly authoritarian government is barely making a ripple behind such blockbuster news bits as bridge closures and polar vortexes. Yes, even though protesters are literally building catapaults and wearing medieval armor and manning flaming dump trucks.

Hopefully news of the nascent techno-security state will turn some heads—it's right out of 1984, or, more recently, Elysium: technology deployed to "detect" dissent. Again, this tech appears to be highly arbitrary; anyone near the protest is liable to be labeled a "participant," as if targeting protesters directly and so broadly wasn't bad enough in the first place.

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http://motherboard.vice.com/en_ca/blog/maybe-the-most-orwellian-text-message-ever-sent

[tblue37]

1. During the RNC in New York, and during the Occupy protests, as the cops engaged in mass beatings,

pepper spraying, and arrests, they also indiscriminately included uninvolved bystanders, as did the London cops when they kettled protesters.

Anyone in the vicinity of even a totally peaceful protest is likely to get attacked by the enforcers, even in the supposedly "democratic" US and UK. I have no doubt that the NSA will use its electronic data mining capabilities to collect such data on protesters and bystanders, if in fact they have not already been doing so for some time.

[pampango]

2. Indeed both are wrong. None should excuse that actions of one conservative because another one

has previously done the same thing. That would preemptively excuse a whole lot of conservative suppression of protest.

[joshcryer]

4. I thought this mass text messaging was done during Occupy.

But I can't find a story of it.

Nevertheless the mass kettling was totally unconstitutional and it's a shame no constitutional challenge has happened as of yet.

And no doubt, the NSA can no doubt in the future use these mass texting PSYOPS. Which is why we should get a handle on it now. Gaddafi was using these mass text messages in 2011.

[Berlum]

3. "All your data, communications and identity are belong to us." - Techno-State, Inc.

[thesquanderer]

5. "Mind the drones." (n/t)

[Shankapotomus]

6. We'll, they DID subscribe

to the regime's newsletter, right? Ever hear of unsubscribing? Geeeez.

[Coyotl]

8. They subscribed to cell phones.

But they did not sign up for the surveillance!

[marble falls]

7. "Dear subscriber". Were they protesting a government or a corporation?

[bonniebgood]

9. What's the Difference? corp or Gov? nt

[n2doc]

10. Gov has jails to toss you into, and firing squads

Corp, not so much, yet.

[mackerel]

11. a friend of mine son is in the Peace Corps and he stationed in the

Ukraine. the Peace Corps is telling them not to use their cell phones right now not to text don't put anything on Facebook or on Twitter or anything that would jeopardize their mission there and also for their own safety.