Restored from Instagram stories ·
ok serious time now.
WhatsApp is risking getting banned because of the foolery that's happening in UK currently.
WhatsApp is refusing to bend down and is saying that it'd rather stop providing it's services than release a weak version of its tech to users.
the govt. is mandating that it has access to every message that a user is sending to someone all while telling the public through journalists that it's still End-to-End encrypted (E2E)
see. i am getting pissed at two things here.
1. obviously these journalists. why are you repeating what the govt. is asking you to say ? you are essentially a mouthpiece and that's something a press release can do.
as a journalist you are supposed to question. why and you're supposed to find the truth and inform the public.
2. they are changing the definition of E2E (end to end encryption) and is forcibly setting the narrative to the public that it's still E2E. this is stepped up needless personal surveillance.
so now, we have to emphasize on end to end security instead of just end to end encryption.
what's more alarming is that, when the government of UK demands this, whatsapp is denying. now imagine governments of other countries demanding the same.
imagine this setting a precedent of problematic governments all asking to track each individual's personal chats eventually stooping down to orwellian levels of surveillance. that's a nightmare.
do you think whatsapp will deny if Indian govt. requires this ? nope. most of their userbase is in India, latam and middle East.
so, this is where the problem is. they want companies like whatsapp to see the gallery, check for images way before you send it via E2E effectively rendering E2E useless.
imagine them asking the companies to track what you type before you click send to someone. then whatever you typed gets sent to the govt.
if you know, i am one of the most fiercest defenders of children in internet and i have viciously shut down CSAM operations, i hate pedophiles to the core that i can put a metal into the head with zero mercy.
having helped the law enforcement multiple times, i know how this works.
----
but snooping into someone's phone isn't how you stop them. it all begins with, okay let's scan this phone for potential abuse material.
who knows what else you aren't scanning?
it's like saying, let me put a camera into every person's bedroom and let me know if something bad happens.
hello? but you are seeing me shag your mom you idiot.
should I be ashamed or should you be ashamed ? or should the citizens question, why is government snooping into this ?
this is over-reach. madness of power.
what next ? public intercourses to prove i am only having it with my wife/girlfriend?
or should I get permission from the king/majesty himself before having intercourse with my wife/girlfriend?
(as crazy as the above might sound, the rule existed in medieval times.
some say the word fornication under consent of the king is the origin for the word F-U-C-K but there are other etymologies too. so bleh
but see Tudor laws. they had one of the weirdest medieval rules on having intercourse)
well i am just saying what madness is actually happening with the peak of digital devices now overtaking our lives.
this exactly is the problem.
my question is, the UK govt. is now handing over, hey monsieur - these are the list of objectionable content. scan and send me.
now another country with a diff. set of rules will come and say,
hey - these are the list of words that threaten our country. scan and send them.
with the taliban govt. capturing Afghanistan back and establishing their sovereignty - we are now 100% sure that anyone with enough numbers can rule any country.
imagine setting the precedent for mass surveillance by bringing these rules.
imagine the afghan govt. setting up a list of words that can result in your well - being conclusively ending on
heads - spikes - walls.
well, welcome to the future.
can this turn out even more bad?
well ofcourse.
imagine the govt. mandating that device manufacturers take pics of all, record someone whenever they want and listen to what they say or what they do in the night in their bedroom.
imagine waking upto a diss track of someone mocking your moaning sound in the night ? how does that sound ?
the original silicon valley tech industry has always stood up against censorship and govt. practices that creep on private individualism of a person.
but it's a sad state that tech no longer does that.
it's one of the primary reasons why the silicon valley leaned left. they stood up against fascist policies of the right including censorship.
that's why they made that the richest state in US, effectively making it a sanctuary city.
they lobbied for more immigrants to live upto to the American dream.
but alas now, the left became controllers, doing massive media manipulation, working with the big tech.
they became the very enemies that they swore to destroy. (this is because you allowed far left to come and hijack your movement. we'll talk about this some day)
if you think about this not happening in India,
wait till i tell you this.
1. TRAI move to self identify all numbers with your aadhar name when you call someone.
this is a bad move. in a country where,
- women have poor safety especially digital safety. i see twitter pages literally sexualising the pics of influencer women from instagram. there are so many vile things that happen. zero actions from the law enforcement machinery. cyber law enforcement isn't well equipped to handle these threat actors yet.
imagine the level of stalking when numbers are self identified with aadhar names. you can call someone randomly - get their name. harass them. or get them to call you by giving a missed call, boom - you got their aadhar name.
how many other steps to uncover other information including their address ?
i do OSINT all the time. 5 to 6 steps from there. our public information security is next to zero.
the DND barely works in India. companies call and message you all the time.
who's welcoming this move in India ? businesses and corporates who can use this to benefit. ofcourse, now they can Target you better.
expect 1000x increase in spam calls and messages.
do i have to tell how else this could be misused ?
--
don't came at me saying Truecaller does the same. it gets names from mutually stored names. it's different and still offers privacy if you wish to.
a government doing this is a step in surveillance which you should avoid at all costs.
because bad threat actors might use it against you when they get power.
2. rise of e-sims which automatically bind to your IMEI. tracking yourself by governmental authorities or if the tech goes to bad actors, this becomes easy.
---
see, ultimately all of this affects me personally by zero chance.
i follow the rules of power. people with enough power and money over step this.
it's the people who fight for something, people who start movements, people who might fight for justice, people who fight for basic rules (all are acceptable functions under democracy and statutes of a society) and people whom the govt. can put as enemies of a state (which will change according to who's in power) - who are going to be affected.
do understand and know how these will affect you.
me? nah. it doesn't.
it's not the same for you.
people like me, we are in the business of making money. we ensure that we do anything and everything to make sure our money is safe, our business outcomes are safe (like any good capitalist business people should)
we won't talk against the govt. lobbying them itself is an art for which we dedicate budgets every year. we will not talk against anything that harms our positions.
tbh, like vultures (exactly how businesses support TRAI bringing in the aadhar based name identification when people call), we see if there's even an opportunity where we can make money when govt. makes moves like these.
that's what I meant - these people will follow the power law and won't be affected.
it's the common people who are affected. people with differing voices.
the only good thing in this TRAI move ? discussions are under place and do you know who's the only big guy opposing this along with individuals who value privacy ?
surprisingly Jio.
caught me by surprise. still wondering why are they opposing this ?
because they don't want other telecom companies to get business like they do. they want their dominance in business. don't wanna lose out with other companies getting those information which they collected by giving it for free.
selfish move by Jio, but good for overall country.
it's a surprise for me.
but let's see what TRAI is gonna do about this.
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2026 Jason Samuel