The more I think about the need for “freedom tech” in the world — a term I first heard for #[0] — the more I think the open internet is simply not something anybody should be taking for granted. Sure, China’s Great Firewall has leaks, and VPNs are a thing. But it’s an insane cat and mouse game, and the risks of detection are very high.
I propose that if we really wanted to have the power of mass organization in civil society to limit the ability of state’s to overreach, then we should really be looking at technologies like BLE to create open mesh protocols to make open communication possible, even in situations where the internet is completely locked down.