this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2024
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134
WIRED: Neo-Nazis Are Fleeing Telegram for Encrypted App SimpleX Chat. (rbfirehose.com)
submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

Smear campaign

A smear campaign, also referred to as a smear tactic or simply a smear, is an effort to damage or call into question someone's reputation, by propounding negative propaganda.[1] It makes use of discrediting tactics. It can be applied to individuals or groups. Common targets are public officials, politicians, political candidates, activists, and ex-spouses. The term also applies in other contexts, such as the workplace.[2] The term smear campaign became popular around 1936.[3] [Wikipedia[

[–] [email protected] 52 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don't mean to imply anything, but this post was listed maybe one scroll away from the piracy community welcoming everyone to SimpleX. Unfortunate timing.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago

But certainly not coincidental

[–] [email protected] 51 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Farewell and fuck off

[–] [email protected] 65 points 2 days ago (3 children)

As a SimpleX user.

God damnit.

[–] [email protected] 68 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Infrastructure will always be used by evil and good. If it exists. Just like a road. Normal people use them as well as murderers.

If a good encryption chat software exists it will be used. It's necessary for normal privacy and sensitive topics between people but those ones will also use it. Nothing to do about it.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Ywah, but it sucks when malicious actors use it enough to bring attention from authorities who will do eveeything they can to undermine everyone's privacy.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 2 days ago

Also extra sad when you realize they didnt care or investigate those nazis before, but will now claim that they cant do their work because muh encryption.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago

Like everything else, if it's worth doing it's probably worth self hosting.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don't really get either of these comments. No one should be using telegram for anything other than a discord clone, and of course the shady turds will gravitate to privacy-focused messaging apps. I mean presumably that's why the turds chose telegram initially, they just fucked up the due diligence and thought telegram was secure because they credulously believed the founder dude who folded under state pressure.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

It would be nice if the first publicity it got wasn't for being the choice of Nazis. I don't like that if I mention to a coworker that I use it, there's going to be that question of "wait, is this guy secretly a white supremacist".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (2 children)

You are surprised that the darkweb chat client has Nazis on it?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

"Darkweb"? I was under the impression that it means a messenger that is onion/i2p-only. Simplex, while having an easy Tor integration, is mostly used by clearnet.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

That's a good point to it tho. It means Simplex is simple enough for anyone, even telegram pogromists to use. Advanced stuff became user-friendly, so average folks can with some adjustment come to it too.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

How does simplex compare to signal?

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

No identifiers, so your social graph stays private.

Also has an independent security audit.

To deliver messages, instead of user IDs used by all other platforms, SimpleX uses temporary anonymous pairwise identifiers of message queues, separate for each of your connections — there are no long term identifiers.

https://simplex.chat/#how-simplex-works

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

So then how do you pair with a connection? Do you send them (out of band like through email or something) some kind of key that they then accept? That sounds super annoying.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

In person with a QR code

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Or a link.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

For me, the main distinction is selfhostability (although I have concerns about the majority keeping using the default servers, I could still ask a friend or family member to use mine).

Also I am a bit concerned about them pushing the "No identifiers" thing which seems misleading, since you're still identified, just per-conversation.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

All encrypted chat apps are one strong-arm subpoena away from sharing their logs with law enforcement.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Telegram wasn't really ever an encrypted chat app. If it were, people wouldn't need to be fleeing it.

[–] shortwavesurfer 1 points 1 day ago

Only if they have the ability to collect logs on servers they control with SimpleX that can easily not be the case. The server infrastructure can be run by most anybody since it is open source and freely available and the actual software does everything in its capacity to not even make messages linkable. So best of luck.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Why are they moving from telegram?

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 days ago (1 children)

researchers found that in the wake of the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov and charges against leaders of the so-called Terrorgram Collective, dozens of extremist groups have moved to the app SimpleX Chat in recent weeks over fears that Telegram’s privacy policies expose them to being arrested.”

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Telegram has been supplying US government with data on its users

https://www.404media.co/telegram-confirms-it-gave-u-s-user-data-to-the-cops/

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Why not link the original source?

Was this article funded by a would-be surveillance state? If not, I wonder what David Gilbert's headline will be when he learns that roads, telephones, postal services, and conference halls are also used by neo-nazis.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sounds like a virus. Herpes SimpleX? Have fun with that.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I associate it more with a simplex mode for radio.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Different backgrounds will draw different conclusions. Being in the medical field and not ham radio (had to look up what you’ve mentioned) it would never have occurred to me.

I didn’t mean to offend. Nazi ideology can be like a virus and so is what I stated in my comment. A poorly made joke I guess.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Ah, and I am into radio) I don't see the offense, as well as I don't see the inherent evil here. The protocol wasn't catering to such people (idk if there are even examples of a protocol being this - only platforms, like Gab, come to mind) and it's just unfortunate it's getting such associations.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 days ago

Neo-nazis, or any kind of fascists, have no space anywhere. They can fuck off to the next platform, but they can’t run forever