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some links for you: state censorship, coinbase, hyperinflation, etc

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some links for you: state censorship, coinbase, hyperinflation, etc

Neeraj K. Agrawal
Jun 11, 2020
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Share this post

some links for you: state censorship, coinbase, hyperinflation, etc

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Apple has pulled a podcast app from the app store in China. They did this because it allowed users to access content deemed illegal in the country. 

Twitter avatar for @pocketcasts
Pocket Casts @pocketcasts
Pocket Casts has been removed from the Chinese App store by Apple, at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China. We believe podcasting is and should remain an open medium, free of government censorship. As such we won't be censoring podcast content at their request.
12:28 AM ∙ Jun 11, 2020
2,753Likes655Retweets

Also, Zoom censored public conversations about Hong Kong and Tiananmen Square. 

In statement, Zoom said it was obliged to respond to requests from Chinese authorities as long as users in China participated in videoconferences.

“Like any global company, Zoom must comply with laws in the countries where we operate,” a company spokesman said.

Noticing a trend here? Complying with local laws may not be the ethical standard for content moderation. 

Companies are being forced into compliance by China’s great firewall. 

Authorities also use a punishment system – blocking a domain for a short period of time if they run afoul of censors. Ultimately, China will block the site forever if the company does not acquiesce to demands.

And the model is being successfully exported to other would-be despots, emphasis mine: 

In 2017, Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Communication Edwin Ngonyani expressed admiration for China’s internet control and said the country would follow Beijing’s path at a meeting sponsored by the government of Tanzania and China’s internet regulator.

“Our Chinese friends have managed to block such media in their country and replaced them with their homegrown sites that are safe, constructive and popular,” said Ngonyani.

Citing the Arab Spring, he said that social media, if left uncontrolled, could help topple governments.

In 2018, the Tanzanian government imposed a new set of sweeping regulations to police the internet. Content creators are required to get licensed and could be punished for posting banned material, including content that uses bad language or causes annoyance.

I don’t think they are supposed to say those parts out loud. 


Russia’s internet clampdown is progressing smoothly as well. 

According to the report, published in February, the number of internet pages banned by Russia’s state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, jumped from over 161,000 in 2018 to nearly 273,000 in 2019. During the same period, the number of state-sponsored cyber attacks against individuals rose from 20 to 32. 


If you’re NEAR a crime, police can compel Google to hand over your information. And they really like doing it. 

Unlike a traditional search order that identifies a particular suspect, geofence warrants require Google to trawl its massive library of location data, commonly known as the “Sensorvault,” to identify people who were in the area when a crime was committed. They are relatively new, and increasingly widespread: Between 2017 and 2018, Google saw a 1,500% surge in the number of requests it received, and from 2018 to 2019, the rate increased over 500%.

This technological dragnet is unbelievably indiscriminate and intrusive. Thankfully it is facing legal challenges. 


Amid the currency crisis, Zelle has become a popular tool for locals in Venezuela to access the stability of the dollar. To use Zelle on the ground you need a counterpart with a US bank account. It has become a necessary tool for survival. 

Wells Fargo apparently does not think the compliance risk is worth it, and is cutting off Zelle access for people using their accounts like this. 

Twitter avatar for @alegw
mach nine @alegw
Just look at the subject of this email and tell me how someone can *not* hate the banks
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4:45 AM ∙ Jun 5, 2020
169Likes35Retweets

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, people are piling into luxury goods to get out of cash. The state has limited buying foreign currency dramatically 

Twitter avatar for @glcarlstrom
Gregg Carlstrom @glcarlstrom
Even as the economy crashes, there's an odd boomlet in luxury goods in Lebanon: The well-off are trying to get their money out of the bank and into physical assets, from ski chalets and Land Rovers to artwork and alcohol.
wsj.comCash in the Bank? Lebanese See Sports Cars, Ski Chalets and Italian Sculptures as Safer InvestmentsIn a desperate attempt to preserve their life savings, many well-off Lebanese are sinking money into Land Rovers, ski chalets and expensive artworks, triggering an unlikely boom at the top end of the luxury market.
6:53 AM ∙ Jun 3, 2020
52Likes30Retweets

Of course, by “people” I mean only people that can afford fine art and ski chalets. Perhaps one day there will be an accessible store of value that is more divisible and easily stored. 

Syria is having a currency crisis as well. 

Twitter avatar for @THE_47th
S. Rifai @THE_47th
Panic all over #Syria: with shops, supermarkets and businesses announcing closure as of tonight and tomorrow. They cannot sell their products with the currency free falling by 10-20% every day. Syrian social media is abuzzed with ppl asking: "why is everything closed?"
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7:30 PM ∙ Jun 6, 2020
107Likes87Retweets

Good luck trying to use something like Zelle to survive there. 


People got mad at Coinbase. 

Twitter avatar for @matt_odell
Matt Odell @matt_odell
turns out @coinbase users do not appreciate @brian_armstrong selling surveillance tools to the US Government
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9:38 PM ∙ Jun 9, 2020
1,840Likes344Retweets

This kind of thing happens all the time. But it’s interesting to see how easily cryptocurrency lets you vote with your dol-- coins. Withdrawing that many dollars from a bank would be a pretty involved process. With cryptocurrency you can easily self custody in a matter of minutes. Imagine if traditional banks had this much competition. 

Meltem Demirors has been thinking about this for while. Take a look: The Great Race for Assets


Twitter avatar for @tayvano_
Taylor Monahan @tayvano_
For those who say crypto isn't super great at communicating the value prop............ [Source: "Despite Access Barriers, Internet is Worth Exploring" Victoria Shannon. The Washington Post. 1994.]
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6:21 AM ∙ Jun 9, 2020
40Likes7Retweets

This is incredible to me. How does this thought process even happen?  

Twitter avatar for @NeerajKA
Neeraj K. Agrawal @NeerajKA
A glimpse inside the mind of a person who fell for an Elon Musk scam cryptocurrency giveaway tweet mailchi.mp/627bea0c04d3/w…
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5:56 PM ∙ Jun 9, 2020
79Likes23Retweets

Sci Hub is a place to access academic research for free. These articles are usually rather expensive. This is not legal. But it’s widely regarded as an incredibly useful tool that’s generally good for humanity. 

Twitter avatar for @nic__carter
nic carter @nic__carter
one of the most impactful projects spreading knowledge without restriction to the world's population & advancing civilization is a noncommercial and borderline illegal website run almost singlehandedly by a kazakh lady... wat means?
5:41 PM ∙ Jun 5, 2020
164Likes49Retweets

Sci Hub can’t use PayPal or anything like it because of that aforementioned illegality. 

But here’s how you can support them with Bitcoin. 

Twitter avatar for @Sci_Hub
Sci Hub @Sci_Hub
many people find it hard to use bitcoins for donating to Sci-Hub; and you? here is one of the websites where you can get bitcoin: localbitcoins.com Sci-Hub is considered illegal, which makes quite hard to use systems such as PayPal
6:22 PM ∙ Jun 5, 2020
425Likes112Retweets

I think the CHAZ is hilarious. Not gonna bother trying to explain it here. But here’s some posts. 

Twitter avatar for @HeatherHabsburg
Heather Habsburg @HeatherHabsburg
smdh you can't even smoke in the fucking anarchist commune these days
Twitter avatar for @chaseburnsy
Chase Burns in the CHAZ @chaseburnsy
Designated smoking sections have popped up. “Please consider ur neighbors’ health.” #seattleprotest #CHAZ https://t.co/qMIHNur6AV
6:42 AM ∙ Jun 10, 2020
3,900Likes424Retweets
Twitter avatar for @sopranosdoomer
uncle joonior @sopranosdoomer
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3:45 AM ∙ Jun 11, 2020
11,281Likes1,431Retweets
Twitter avatar for @lilspacecaseart
🌵Dr. Soy Boy MD🌵 @lilspacecaseart
The hopeful future of #chaz
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5:32 AM ∙ Jun 10, 2020
120Likes15Retweets
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some links for you: state censorship, coinbase, hyperinflation, etc

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