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A comment on Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat exams. Parent comment

Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by lannisterstark on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:15PM (#36285766)
and yet, shutdowns like these never happen in actual democratic nations. Even during massive protests/terrorist attacks, nothing happens because we realize that information is important.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by perihelions on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:30PM (#36285917)
Nothing happens *yet*. The law's already on the books, like a loaded Chekov's gun: America's executive has plenary authority to nuke the internet for any "emergency" the incumbent gerontocrat deems fit to declare. (See [0]). If it isn't happening every day, well, my interpretation is that that's because the thought hasn't *yet* occurred to our insane political class, to abuse this horrific power for entertainment purposes.

(When it does start happening, it'll be obvious in hindsight we should never have let it get that far. Not that we'll be able to complain much).

[0] https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/22/representatives-propose-bi... ("Representatives propose bill limiting presidential internet ‘kill switch’" [2020])

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by seanmcdirmid on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:31PM (#36285924)
The executive branch can shutoff the internet, but since they can’t nuke the following election, they would be MAD to do so. A lot of powers aren’t exercised simply because our elections are still somewhat fair.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by lannisterstark on Sunday June 11, 2023 @06:25PM (#36286353)
>When it does start happening, it'll be obvious in hindsight we should never have let it get that far

Oh I agree. We've already let our civil rights go in the gutter. Although I do think it'll be political suicide for whoever does it, unless you're also holding an iron grip on power at that point.

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Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by crearo on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:30PM (#36285921)
False, India the largest democracy tops the list of Internet outages. https://www.dw.com/en/india-internet-shutdown-capital-of-the...
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Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by eldaisfish on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:37PM (#36285988)
India is far from an "actual" democracy and is often classed as a flawed democracy. Their voting system is among the best, most far-reaching and most fair in the world but their quality of candidates, policies etc are far from good. Importantly, India is increasingly imposing the whims of the majority on her minorities, something any good democracy would try to avoid.
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Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by lannisterstark on Sunday June 11, 2023 @06:12PM (#36286268)
>False, India the largest democracy tops the list of Internet outages

I'm well aware, given I am indian lol. Notice how I said "Even during massive protests/terrorist attacks, nothing happens" in the said actual democracies? India doesn't follow that and shuts down internet on whim, during exams, protests, what have you.

India is hardly an 'actual democratic nation.' As an Indian, I would have thought I was making it clearer.

---

In case that wasn't clear enough, here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36285784

>>lol India does the same thing. Hell they do it for 'protests' as well. Kashmir for the longest time had 2G/GPRS/EDGE mobile data service at best. Why? Because they could protest. They did the same for that farmers strike.

>>...funny what authoritarian governments use as a pretense to stay in power. How dare someone speak out against them and organize a protest. No, no internet for you.

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Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by ts-alg1123 on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:25PM (#36285868)
I'm not disagreeing with you, as the ability to communicate and disseminate information freely is extremely vital. However I don't think there's a comparable milestone/goal/event in the west as to the bac in Algeria. It is a big deal for them: parties are thrown if you pass, people sob if they don't. Familial expectations often overwhelm the students. Sure we have stuff like SAT/ACT, and some people place emphasis on those, but not to the extent or reach as over there.

I don't want to touch on the merits of the exam as a whole, but rather just state that this exam is a big deal to a majority of people over there and they view the shutoff as a necessary inconvenience.

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Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by zvmaz on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:35PM (#36285969)
> and they view the shutoff as a necessary inconvenience.

Who views the shutoff as a necessary inconvenience? The current president has promised to stop such cuts [1] as they are widely frowned upon, but it did not stop.

[1] https://radio-m.net/coupure-dinternet-durant-le-bac-les-prom...

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Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by Al-Khwarizmi on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:31PM (#36285923)
In Spain we have a similar exam that all students must pass to access university, and where the grade decides which degrees you can study. It's also a pretty big deal, maybe not for everyone but at least for people who want to study degrees with high demand, like medicine.

We don't cut the internet.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by seanmcdirmid on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:36PM (#36285978)
South Korea and China have such things, although they don’t cut off the internet, they might restrict flights and driving during those times to cut down on noise and such. See https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/11/12/455708201/...
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Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by duxup on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:27PM (#36285898)
An independent judiciary and strong institutions and such matters.

Politicians, people in power really do ask “is this legal?”.

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Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by causality0 on Sunday June 11, 2023 @05:32PM (#36285944)
The UK and US have both used internet shutdowns as a weapon against disobedient citizens:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-tube-...

https://www.wired.com/2011/08/subway-internet-shuttering/

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by lannisterstark on Sunday June 11, 2023 @06:23PM (#36286336)
Hard to categorize a couple of isolated incidents that were widely criticized and were legally under fire in the US as "US does it too." In the link you linked, it was BART who did it, not the "US."

the USA is 50 countries(with limited foreign diplomacy) masquerading as one, and BART's poor decision to do so hardly makes it commonplace.

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Re:Algeria cuts internet nationwide during the baccalaureat ... by causality0 on Sunday June 11, 2023 @09:03PM (#36287369)
these never happen in actual democratic nations. Even during massive protests/terrorist attacks, nothing happens

I'm sure the shutdowns in India are "widely criticized" as well. Nobody went to prison for shutting down service and nobody even lost their job.

it was BART who did it, not the "US."

BART is operated by part of the United States government. Its board of directors are elected positions and it operates its own police force.

[ Parent | on HN ]