The Indian telecommunications authority, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has instructed eight messenger services to implement a permanent binding to inserted SIM cards. Affected are WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Snapchat, ShareChat, as well as the Indian services Arattai, JioChat, and Josh. According to the directive, the companies must ensure within 90 days that their services can only be used with a physically inserted SIM card.
I have an Indian colleague who told me he was threatened with arrest after a traffic stop for having element and conversations installed on his phone as the cop told him those are used by terrorists and he should just use WhatsApp
And that’s the truest, just unpleasant, answer to all the talk about new messenger services and emerging replacements.
Power doesn’t care about rules. Power does care that you don’t have a way to communicate freely. Power punishes you if you try to find a way.
Social problems are not solved by technical means. Or, for the sake of correctness, - they are, but those technical means are called weapons of war. To change the balance of power so that your wishes were respected.
He thought terrorists also use email and drink water, but decided not to tell the cop that.
Do you want new messenger services? Because this is how you get new messenger services.
As someone who only uses a phone without a SIM card this would suck for me.
Are many new phones being made with Sim slots? I assumed physical cards were fading.
I think a bunch still do. I don’t have it because I just purchased the phone with no cell plan. I just use wifi and if I go out I use my work phone Hotspot to provide wifi to my personal. I use Google voice so I have a number and some of those chat apps that my friends use to keep in touch. Im in my 40’s and have never had a cell phone bill still. Outside leaving the house, I honestly cant believe people are paying $60-$100+ dollars a month when you can get everything it does these days off wifi. For the minor inconvenience ive ran into sometimes I still think it’s worth it for the price.
@HeyJoe @schizoidman it’s time to migrate the planet to #signal and …
Or Matrix, no need for a phone number and good luck having all instances to comply.
Signal was also part of this as well
