@dalias This discussion is taking the focus off of where it belongs: keeping our own safe. 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ 🏴 ☂️ At the end of the day, what matters is queer survival, and at this stage we essentially have a cold war declared on us. We can't afford to be getting distracted with trivialities like the politics of the being who created what we use to protect ourselves; yes, Evgeny is clearly against us, but the security of our communications is just as important to us as it is to them. SimpleX is a free app, using it for free doesn't support bigots or bigotry to any degree more than increasing its popularity — as long as that minuscule boost is outweighed by queer lives protected, that seems like winning to me. :blobcatThinkingSunglass:
And as for the argument that we should use something else instead… the E2EE messenger space has precious few viable options. 🗣️ Matrix leaks metadata of exactly the kind governments are using to identify and track queer beings, 💧🪣 Session is essentially just SimpleX with weaker encryption and less reliable message delivery, and except for Signal, others are effectively non-viable for various reasons (though the most egregious in my opinion is that some are _proprietary software_, which I would have _hoped_ that everyone would understand is inherently untrustworthy).
Signal is possibly the only real solid alternative, but Signal is still not viable for everyone, the worst issue being its dependency on phone numbers and phones. Some users' phones or phone number usage are too closely monitored, some can't afford them, some (quite reasonably) don't trust them, and there are probably other valid reasons too. Regardless, Signal's obstinacy on the phone requirement issue seems unshaken, which means that a decent number of users who need protection of the kind it offers **simply can't use it**.
If you have a problem with Evgeny's politics or what SimpleX's algorithms are promoting, by all means, address that issue in its appropriate context — call them out, aim to prevent his company from actually making money, etc. 💸 If you're aware of a _concrete_ vulnerability in SimpleX that puts its users in danger, by all means, raise the alarm. 🚨 📣 But if a tool can be used to further our survival and eventual liberation, better than other available tools in our own situations, then it should be used. 🔧 Icky feelings about it are a luxury we can't afford when the global right is ramping up towards genocide. ⚠️ Simple as.
English isn't my first language, but I hope what I wrote sound firm but respectful. :blobcatHeartHug:
Rich Felker
triskelion
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Pirate Praveen
Divya Ranjan :hilbert:
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