> I'm confused by this post. Do you believe that quote is some unique "East" perspective, or that there aren't people in the "West" doing the same thing?

Sorry, I think the brevity of my offhand post has let it be misunderstood. The other commenters seem to think I am talking about the OSINT concept, Bellingcat and the like. I do not mean that.

What "we in the West" can learn, as ordinary citizens, is to care more about the machinery that increasingly affects our day to day lives and politics, its ownership, function, explicit and implicit values.

Although single issue taglines like "privacy", "e-waste" or "right to repair" are gaining visibility I think, at least in Anglophone countries, US/UK/CA/AUS etc, we are complacent. Countries impacted by more severe political crises seem quicker to catch on that it's technology behind the machinations, and are more ready to question it.