Iran Tells Citizens To Delete WhatsApp (time.com) 94
Iranian state television has instructed residents to delete WhatsApp from their smartphones, claiming the messaging platform gathers user information to share with Israel.
The local media provided no evidence supporting these allegations but additionally encouraged residents to avoid other "location-based" apps. WhatsApp has disputed the claims, with a spokesperson telling Time magazine the Meta-owned platform uses end-to-end encryption and does not track precise locations, keep messaging logs, or provide bulk information to governments.
The episode comes at a time when Iran is simultaneously experiencing a "near-total national Internet blackout," according to NetBlock, an internet governance monitoring organization. The disruption follows earlier partial outages amid escalating military tensions with Israel after days of missile strikes between the countries.
Further reading, from earlier this week: Iran Bans Officials From Using Internet-Connected Devices.
The local media provided no evidence supporting these allegations but additionally encouraged residents to avoid other "location-based" apps. WhatsApp has disputed the claims, with a spokesperson telling Time magazine the Meta-owned platform uses end-to-end encryption and does not track precise locations, keep messaging logs, or provide bulk information to governments.
The episode comes at a time when Iran is simultaneously experiencing a "near-total national Internet blackout," according to NetBlock, an internet governance monitoring organization. The disruption follows earlier partial outages amid escalating military tensions with Israel after days of missile strikes between the countries.
Further reading, from earlier this week: Iran Bans Officials From Using Internet-Connected Devices.
Sensible (Score:5, Insightful)
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Sorry, but you have to be beyond stupid to think that Meta isn't in some way beholden to the US government, and you also have to be beyond stupid to think that Israel and the US aren't sharing intelligence.
Re: Sensible (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, for a country (Iran) boasting of its hacking prowess and with so many of their hackers on bug bounty sites etc, their inability to defend and resorting to announcements like this is pretty comical.
Whatsapp can get you killed. (Score:2)
I mean, MBS of Saudi did have his guys use a zero day, zero click WhatsApp exploit to hack Jeff Bezos and extort him over nude selfies.
Mohammad Bone Saw (MBS) also used a zero-day, zero-click Whatsapp hack [cnn.com] to dismember Jamal Kashoggi into little pieces.
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The local media provided no evidence supporting these allegations
Seems plausible though, given Google's project Nimbus, tech company board execs joining the military, Meta making military googles etc.
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How are the "Snowden revelations" relevant? Don't these "revelations" make clear that the publisher of an application is irrelevant?
"Seems plausible though..."
And that's good enough!
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But conversely in a war, it behooves countries to exercise common sense and lock down the potential for compromise and information leakage. Probably Iran should hav
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Re: no? (Score:2)
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"What's the real solution? Dissolve Islam, or, accept that heros of international freedom, like Israel, will continue to keep it in check."
LOL, that's where you lost the plot. "Heros of international freedom"? Israel? Sure, Islam is a core part of the problem, so is Zionism. And that's not all.
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"Israel is attacking terrorist groups, it's insane to object to that."
That's a straw man, no one is objecting to that. But Israel is attacking a sovereign, not merely terrorist groups, and you called Israel "heros of international freedom". They are not heroes, at best they are defending themselves and even that is questionable. Is their gynocide of Palestinians heroic? You think that's not involved?
"To be fair, I said "Dissolve Islam", after pointing out it has an extremist problem, and how is that goi
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This "sovereign" happens to be the head of these terrorist groups; you might have heard the country referred to as a "state sponsor of terrorism."
Your understanding of extremism needs work. You sound like the kind of person who sees no difference between a 70-year old woman praying in front of an abortion clinic and an ISIS fighter who sets women on fire for not wearing a hijab.
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When Israel was created, there were some Palestinians who stuck around, others fled to Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon.
In Jordan they started causing problems and were kicked out.
In Syria they started causing problems and were kicked out.
In Egypt they started causing problems and were kicked out.
In Lebanon they started causing problems (and still do).
Egypt has put up a bigger wall up then Israel. The Palestinians were allowed to work in Israel, even though they caused problems over and over again. Egypt h
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Israel can’t even respect their own borders. It would do you good to watch this episode of Anthony Bourdain’s show. https://www.salon.com/2023/10/... [salon.com]
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I would also not be amazed if 80% or more of those "victims" were actually Hamas members and those complicit with them.
Which pretty much summarizes the situation. When Netanyahu says he is going to destroy "Hamas" he really means everyone in Gaza. They are all "complicit". Even the babies killed will grow up to be Hamas terrorists and need to be killed. Its pretty much the nature of genocide. The apologists for the Nazi's blamed "the jews".
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That figure of 55,000 people is supplied by Hamas. It includes Hamas fighters, natural deaths, and civilians killed (intentionally or not) by Hamas' own fire. Saying that these are all innocent people killed by Israel is a blood libel.
Furthermore, Hamas have publicly stated that more people were born in Gaza than died during the war; according to a back of the envelope calculation, that means that the population of Gaza has in fact grown since the war began. This event qualifies as the first genocide in his
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You say that like it's supposed to mean something. It means nothing when no one, not even Israel disputes them. And that's only people who have been postively identified. Good luck doing that when Israel has bombed every last medical faciltiy. When bodies are trapped under rub
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"Zionism has nothing to do with religion."
Bullshit. Without religion zionism could not exist at all. Jews are semites, zionism recognizes this "right to live" entirely for religious reasons. Zionism isn't jewish, but it absolutely is religious.
I support sovereignty of a nation on that land, I don't believe that those of jewish faith and ancestry are entitled to rule that nation because some God chose them. I oppose Zionism, which is exactly that premise.
"Islam is not the problem or we'd have a real big o
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"Zionism has nothing to do with religion." Bullshit. Without religion zionism could not exist at all. Jews are semites, zionism recognizes this "right to live" entirely for religious reasons. Zionism isn't jewish, but it absolutely is religious.
I don't think that is correct. Zionism is a cultural construct, not religious. There are plenty of non-religious jews.
To some extent however Israel is not just a Zionist state but a religious state. It uses religious beliefs and practice to determine, at least in part, who is a Jew and therefore entitled to immigrate into Zionist Israel. But there are plenty of Israeli's who wouldn't meet those criteria.
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"...it is the lack of critical thinking ability that prevents people from questioning a faith or religion."
Which in Islam is a crime punishable by death.
"People with an agenda then use that unquestioning loyalty to achieve their own objectives."
Which is why unquestioned loyalty is required in Islam. This is the purpose of organized religions, in Islam that commitment is codified, you cannot leave Islam.
"Stop treating people with imaginary friends as normal, would be a good start."
A good start would require
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It is inn fact, Islam that is the problem.
No, I think bigotry is the problem. The largest Islamic countries are Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nigeria. Combined they account for about half the Muslims in the world. So attributing the hostility to Israel in the middle east solely to religious belief is just anti-Islam bigotry.
A better similarity is to other European settler communities. The treatment of Palestinians by Israel is not all that different than the Europeans treatment of the indigenous people of North America or the Boers t
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No, I think bigotry is the problem. The largest Islamic countries are Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nigeria. Combined they account for about half the Muslims in the world. So attributing the hostility to Israel in the middle east solely to religious belief is just anti-Islam bigotry.
Of the ones you listed, (and nearly every other country with a significant Islamic presence) only the ones that are majority Islam either:
- Are actively hostile to Israel (this is most of the ones both in and beyond your list)
- Don't recognize them as a country at all and ban Israelis from entry even if they have another passport (Indonesia is in this camp)
- Don't allow Israelis to visit the country even though they recognize them as a country (Bangladesh is in this camp, specifically carving out an "except
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He didn't say that, this is what's known as a straw man.
The long term answer to terrorism is to address root cause. Fighting terrorism and dropping bombs are not necessarily the same thing.
A while back, the US finally figured out that supporting stability in latin American nations was far more effective and far less costly in addressing illegal immigration that fighting battles at the borders. Then Trump got elected and reversed all those policies. Short sightedness is a hallmark of a weak mind, now what
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I wonder about the impact of immiseration (Score:2)
Iranians, whether ordinary people or members of the regime (clerics, military, IRGC, nuclear scientists, politicians etc), are facing a very sharp reduction in the quality of their lives. Lots of new restrictions on device usage coupled with price spikes and shortages of everything. I do wonder how this will play out in the end.
Bernie Sanders wise words on this mess (Score:2)
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Fortunately, Bernie is not a Democrat.
Democrats addressed Iranian nuclear ambitions in the Obama era, Trump destroyed that. Any Iranian nuclear capability is entirely Trump's responsibility.
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Turns out the guy funding terror attacks and threatening to strike US bases is mostly interested in powering consumer electronics.
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Population will mostly ignore those orders (Score:2)
I’m not a fan of violent regime change. I’m a US citizen, and I’m well aware of our history doing that. It usually turns out badly. The last time that strategy worked well was G
We get what we deserve (Score:4, Interesting)
I have said from the outset that Trump's abandoning of the JCPOA (Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal) was the worst foreign policy mistake since Iraq 2003 and here unfortunately it came to pass as true.
Trump said he would do it while running in 2016 and he did and once again what did the "Master Negotiator" negotiate the promised superior deal since we got "ripped off" on the first one, ...well we got nothing, nothing at all but more saber rattling and kicking the can down the road for another 4 years.
All the jokes about Kamala starting the draft, "no new wars under Trump" (that also has always been a lie), well, they probably ain't worth shit now. We did it, it's been 23 years since Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech and we are now getting to #2. Trump could still declare on N. Korea, get the trifecta going.
Strap in kids, it's gonna be a bumpy ride once those B2's take off.
For the record I don't even disagree that something needs to be done about Iran's nuclear capability but that was done and then we threw it away to assuage one mans tiny and easily bruised ego. We deserve a nice needless foreign war again. This shit sucks.
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Trump is now going to decide if he'll strike Iran "in two weeks".
Yep, the same "two weeks" he has used for infrastructure week and medical plans.
This might be good news, since neither of those happened, but this level of government-by-clusterfuck is simply insane.
https://bsky.app/profile/atrup... [bsky.app]
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My silly prediction, we sell Israel the bunker busters and 2x B-2 bombers so *technically* Israel runs the mission and drop the bombs, which is both incredibly dubious and stupid but maybe the best option that is left here.
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The B61 mod 11 is a better solution to destroy Fordow ;)
But it would cause all sorts of other issues, so several GBU-57's will probably be the solution.
My fear is that Iran already has the Bomb (Or the Russians gave some to them).
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Look at this admin, are we really go by past laws and norms? I did say it was silly but also stupid enough they might just try it.
If an F15 can carry the necessary gear then yeah, that much is obvious, sell them the bombs, they are chomping at the bit to drop them.
T.A.C.O. (Score:2)
Within two weeks a newly manufactured outrage will push this out of the 24 hour news cycle so the MAGA faithful don't notice that he's chickened out yet again. Russia is dependent on Iranian made arms so they won't let their tame American government do anything to jeopardise that.
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>"I have said from the outset that Trump's abandoning of the JCPOA (Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal) was the worst foreign policy mistake since Iraq 2003 and here unfortunately it came to pass as true."
I couldn't possibly disagree more. The JCPOA was just funneling tons of money to Iraq who then used it to... do more work on nuclear weapons and terrorism activities.
Trump did negotiate in good faith and gave a 60 day window for them to come to some kind of terms that would deny them nuclear weapons. Iran repe
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You say "funneling" to normalize things to your favor but fuck those word games. The deal was the release of frozen funds and easing of sanctions for no weapons program and regular inspections by third parties. Unlike the current President this is what an actual negotiation is, not "i get what I want or nobody gets anything"
At the time Trump nixed the deal our State Department, DoD, the inspectors, etc all agreed Iran was complying. Your "funneling money" as some breach of treaty is bullshit.
Trump did negotiate in good faith and gave a 60 day window for them to come to some kind of terms that would deny them nuclear weapons. Iran repeatedly said there was no way they were going to agree to giving up their nuclear program. On day 61, the deadline was passed, and Israel took action to nullify Iran's nuclear program.
No, he is al
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>"At the time Trump nixed the deal our State Department, DoD, the inspectors, etc all agreed Iran was complying."
Possibly. And yet still using tons of money to fund terrorism all over the place. Or haven't you noticed? Money is fungible, however they are getting it.
>"Your "funneling money" as some breach of treaty is bullshit."
I didn't say anything about a breach of treaty. I really don't know either way. I am more concerned with their threats, actions, and behavior over the last several years.
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Yes, you know what has happened in the past 7 years while they have been funding terrorism? No treaty or agreement. The whole idea was to integrate them back into the global economy so maybe they don't feel the need to put so much money into proxy battles. Wait I forget we don't believe in free trade anymore and all those benefits it brings.
Again, you are judging their actions *after* we scrapped the deal. If their actions didn't violate the agreement why did we scrap it?
Yes deal with the nuclear Iran thr
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>"The whole idea was to integrate them back into the global economy so maybe they don't feel the need to put so much money into proxy battles."
They are operating on radical theology and hate, not on economics. They used to be much more prosperous and threw it away in the name of hate. I think it is silly for anyone to believe that their having a better economy would convert the regime into a peaceful, non-threatening government. What they actually do, and have done, is funnel the money into terrorism
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They are operating on radical theology and hate, not on economics. They used to be much more prosperous and threw it away in the name of hate.
This is a childlike view of international politics and particularly with regards to Iran which the US has fair to say, complicated past with. To say they "threw it away" belies an ignorance of their history. We went from being at total war with Communist Vietnam to just like 10-20 years alter being very close trading partners and it's a country with one of the most positive views of the USA in the world.
We deal with all types of nations in regards to trade since we as liberal capitalists (that's what we a
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>"Iran had a chance for more moderate elements to take a bigger role, and to create an expanding consumer economy that would have obviated the need for a nuclear program."
Wow, that is beyond naive. Have you seen any evidence of Iran becoming more moderate over the last decade of the JCPOA? The regime has happily chanted "death to Israel, death to America, death to Britain" and funded terrorism all over, the entire time of the [believed] "pause" on nuclear weapon development.
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I think we got the best possible outcome. .
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Better tell the IAEA as they are claiming Iran is over 60% enriched, what civilian process needs highly enriched Uranium?
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Well is the IAEA correct in their assesment or no and why not?
Also the fact we have the President and his DNI in conflict is a good idea of how clusterfucked the admin is.