Eastern Europe & Caucasus Russian citizens are scared of their smartphones

[The Gays From LA]

I was watching this Livestream with a Russian Youtuber, and I think this perfectly shows how terrified normal Russians citizens are of digital surveillance by the State. They're clearly very paranoid about it. They're aware that surveillance happens via smartphones, and they're terrified that someone is recording them saying subversive things through a phone that just happens to be on the table. It's pure 1984:

"They were, like, 'Dasha! Sh-sh-sh!". They had their phone on the table, [they took it and] they [hid] it in their bag. (...) They were genuine: 'Never talk about this next to the phone, never talk about anything controversial that can put you in jail next to the phone because it can be tracked.'. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine my shock then I returned back to Russia? (...) Even small things, that I say all the time, my Russian friends are afraid that they will go jail for [saying] that. They're afraid of small things. Just [talking about] what's going on."

 

[Firegirl26]

I feel bad for the general population of Russian citizens. I mean the government was bad before, but there were some good things about it. I’m sure somewhere somehow I don’t live in Russia, but I heard there was some type of fairness going on with some thing. I think the surveillance thing is more because the current government leader Vladimir . there might be a Russian revolution going on ,where , well ,the how would I say the coals are burning. Russia doesn’t seem to have a lot allies and it exported and imported many goods. It would be fine for now, but can it stand on its own 2 feet like it did during the Soviet union.

 

[The Gays From LA]

I fear the worst for Russia. Whether they win or lose the war in Ukraine, they're going to be shunned in many ways by many countries for years if not decades to come, which will only make them double down on their current positions. I also don't like blaming everything on Putin. You know what they say: whenever a scoundrel is removed, there are usually 10 other scoundrels waiting in the wings waiting to take their place. What if Putin were simply replaced by an even worse Putin v 2.0? I've even heard it said that a more cosmopolitan, more slick Putin-replacement would be better able to manipulate the West and thus do an even better job achieving whatever Russia wants to achieve (territorial expansion and the seizing of resources). Geopolitics is so depressing and frustrating.

 

[Jetstream Sharpe]

Literally hi-lighter

 

[UltimateDestroyer]

Sounds like the kind of thing that politicians in the US want to do in their own country. Dissent is terrorism, after all.

 

[delphi]

Sounds like the kind of thing that politicians in the US want to do in their own country. Dissent is terrorism, after all.

A lot of our smart appliances monitor us already and I have no doubt that if the government ever wants the information they gather, Google and co will hand it over.

 

[UltimateDestroyer]

A lot of our smart appliances monitor us already and I have no doubt that if the government ever wants the information they gather, Google and co will hand it over.

What else can I say, China is the future. They have a totalitarian government and a capitalist economy. Both gov and corps benefit from this relationship. We're a long way from Teddy Roosevelt's busting up of Standard Oil and whatnot, but indeed we are entering another Gilded Age.

I imagine the ruling class in the US is taking notes.

 

[notgivingmynametoamachine]

I remember back about five years ago or so, playing a browser game (LoA) and chatting with a russian friend. Every time he said anything remotely sounding critical of government (any) or russia specifically, his net would "cut out" for about 15 minutes. He explained one day to us and it took the better part of an hour. lol