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anon261114 | 3 years ago
Please rethink this criterion. Those of us who live under authoritarian regimes have to be cautious to protect us from both our governments and members of our society who support them.
anon261114 | 3 years ago
Please rethink this criterion. Those of us who live under authoritarian regimes have to be cautious to protect us from both our governments and members of our society who support them.
jacquesm|3 years ago
anon261114|3 years ago
I don't see it as a hitpiece. A hitpiece is when the main intention is to hurt a reputation. But any damage to reputation here is a secondary consequence of this company's actions that deviate from a moral and legal standard that a section of society wants companies to practise. It's no different from the posts that complain about Google bots blocking access to gmail accounts without redressal - we don't consider them hitpieces though they damage Google's reputation.
OP's intentions, IMO, are to bring to the IT community's attention, this situation where people may face penalties for doing a moral good (donating to a fact-checking service to fight disinformation) and for having their personal data handed to a malicious government without even token resistance.
Since social issues with data privacy and government intimidation aspects have been discussed here before, perhaps they thought this is a suitable forum. Everything OP said about the case and company's actions are factually correct for which they provided supporting links.
The only thing I disagree in the post is the inclusion of YC. I don't think YC could have done, can do, or even should do, ideological policing. "YC company" can be removed from the post because it's irrelevant. But without it, this post may never have been upvoted because western audiences don't know about Razorpay, a local Indian company.
On anonymity and cowardice, I feel you are belittling the entire philosophies of anonymity and whistleblowing that have legal backing even in western democracies.
Plus, there is no upside to revealing one's name when living in a malicious society where online mobs carry out intimidation campaigns, and law and courts don't are not seen as protectors. If OP reveals their name, it may persuade you but what benefit do they actually get?
Nonetheless, if you are strictly against cowardice in all forms, please remember that individuals are not the only cowards here:
1) Razorpay, a well-funded organization with lawyers, handed over data without even a murmur of protest or legal resistance. There are always legal loopholes to at least stall or make the cops work a bit harder. But they tried none of that.
2) The Indian government has overwhelming voter and ideological support, and practically limitless executive powers. Yet it funds disinformation and propaganda networks hiding behind a huge network of anonymous social media accounts, and cracks down hard on individuals who dissent or protest, a minority in our society.
I hope your disdain for cowards is not selective against the least powerful.
anon261114|3 years ago
Yes, it can seem unlikely to outsiders who haven't observed the behavior of Indian outrage mobs on Twitter, Whatsapp, etc. There's a frightening arbitrariness and unpredictable lack of logic in their behavior. One never knows what triggers them. But once triggered, they go all in with doxxing, death threats, rape threats, online bullying, threat calls, and similar. So the best option is to stay silent all the time. The second best is to murmur our troubles to sympathetic audiences from anonymous accounts. If we were to criticize Indian government and it makes it to the Twitter/Whatsapp mob ecosystem, here's a small sample of the outcomes:
1. Police arrested a muslim woman after a complaint by a hindutva activist for posting this WhatsApp status on Pakistan’s Republic Day: “May God bless every nation with peace, unity and harmony”. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/mudhol-woma...
2. Police lodged complaint Against Two Minor Muslim Boys for Listening to a Pakistani Song. The FIR against the teenagers was lodged on the complaint of a local hindu, who objected to their playing the song which praised the neighbouring country. https://scroll.in/latest/1021926/two-muslim-boys-detained-fo...
3. Gujarat legislator Arrested Over Tweets Criticising Modi. The arrest was over recent tweets after communal violence in Gujarat, in which Mevani had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a supporter of Nathuram Godse, who assassinated M.K. Gandhi. https://thewire.in/politics/gujarat-mla-jignesh-mevani-arres...
4. Delhi university professor Held Over 'Objectionable' Post on Gyanvapi. https://www.thequint.com/news/india/du-professor-ratan-lal-a...
5. Complaint Against Alt News‘ co-founder Mohammed Zubair for Calling Militant Hindutva Leaders 'Hatemongers'. https://thewire.in/government/fir-against-mohammed-zubair-fo...
6. Physics Lecturer Held After Rightwing Activists Complain he Insulted 'Sanatan Dharma' https://thewire.in/rights/silchar-physics-santan-dharma-arre...
7. Police lodge complaint against Assam Professor Over Facebook Joke on Ram and Modi. He never mentioned Ram or Modi in his tweet, but still the complaint was accepted by police. https://thewire.in/rights/after-abvp-complaint-fir-against-a...
8. Woman gets rape threats for tweeting on Dipa Karmakar’s gymanstics in Rio olympics. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/jaipur-woman-gets-...
In this discussion, redditors discuss how to intimidate ideological opponents ("antinationals") by complaining to government security ministry : https://www.reddit.com/r/indiadiscussion/comments/s2ppyh/a_c... -
I can provide many more examples of such incidents. There are a few every week.
I hope this gives some context to our fears. They may look irrational from the outside but are very rational to us.
Whether to sacrifice our peace of mind for the good of a society that doesn't like us is an ethical dilemma many of us have not fully resolved. Zubair resolved that dilemma by dropping anonymity and paid the price with imprisonment.