Beware of Non-E2E Messengers!

If you are a person at risk, or discussing topics prohibited where you live, you absolutely need to avoid text messaging apps which are not end to end encrypted. In a separate development, the splinternet continues fighting for its life. Here are some articles:

• Messages about ending a teen pregnancy lead to arrest of Nebraska mother and daughter. Cops were given evidence from Meta, which had incriminating data on their servers. Here is another article, which indicates that the mother and daughter conversed in the clear on Facebook Messenger. Of course, the whole arc of events might not have happened if the young woman and her partner been more informed about contraception and managing risks in sex. Friends, if you don't know, you can find out...

Messengers you use need to have nothing on their servers which is useful to investigators. Just as you should use Tor or a "no logs" VPN, the servers passing your messages need to have nothing on you. Sending files through the messenger may pose risks due to metadata. Also, some apps are less careful about passing information an adversary may use to track relationships within a group. Use apps which protect your metadata!

• A critical element of Russia's crackdown on dissent is METADATA. Even if they don't have the text of your messages, they may know who you are in contact with and what files or images you are sharing...
• Russia continues to tweak its internet disconnection points.

Authoritarians have steamy dreams of being able to throw a switch and cut their countries off from the internet. Except reality is not so easy. Finding and disabling connections to the outside is a never ending game of whack-a-mole. What's more, any connection to the outside is an open door to information to refute internal propaganda. Censorship is dead; information warfare has replaced it.