this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2024
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Pretty much the title. I certainly believe Trump, Maga, the Military, and the Police will, sooner or later, probably sooner, get around to at least attempting to deanonymize and round up online antifascists and leftists and imprison them. How organized and effective that attempt is I am less sure of.

To be very transparent, this is something I'm pretty sure I'd be on the hook for. I have a long log of anti trump, antifascist, left sentiments, and am 75% sure I'll be disappeared at some point in the next 4 years as I have no plans of shutting up. The only reason I'm not 100% sure is because of how expensive it would be. But hey, maybe it's less expensive than potentially losing power? So I don't know.

Never? Not likely? Maybe? Very? Extremely? Definitely?

Thoughts?

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Everyone's like "it won't happen" but I remember post-9/11 a specific Linux news site got hit with claims of radicalism and some folks who frequented the site got put on watch lists. For interest in Linux.

There was a reason folks like me were against all the surveillance from the PATRIOT Act back then, and this is why.


EDIT:

Similarly, the Bush admin had the FBI spying on Quakers, the only religious group that anti-violence is such a central tenet to their religion that they by default are considered conscientious objectors and cannot be drafted into the military without violating their beliefs.

Post-9/11 the government thought peaceful Quaker anti-war activists were dangerous.

That was post-9/11 in the War on Terror years... It can happen here.


Sources:

Linuxjournal gets "extra surveillance:"

https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/nsa-linux-journal-extremist-forum-and-its-readers-get-flagged-extra-surveillance

Quakers being spied on by FBI:

https://www.wired.com/2009/09/fbi-nsac/

[–] [email protected] 39 points 4 weeks ago

Unless you're doing actual organizing, unlikely. The DNC isn't friendly towards Leftist orgs either, though MAGA groups themselves may become more millitant.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 4 weeks ago

Personally, I would be worried if I was you. The first Trump term can’t be compared as he had some guardrails with his recommended cabinet picks from the traditional GOP. Now that those GOP members have been expelled from the party, those guardrails are no longer there. His cabinet picks are loyalists and is a stress test to weed out any non-loyalists in Congress.

His cabinet picks will have free will to do what they want as long as they do two things: 1) praise Trump for the popular things they accomplish and 2) take the fall or blame other groups if it’s not popular.

And it’s not the government coming after these groups that is most worrying. We all see the lengths regular citizens would go to right a perceived wrong. January 6 case in point.

We’ve all seen this film before. It doesn’t have a good ending.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Likely. The federal government has SharePoint sites with information gathered about journalists and other activists who are pro immigration. To my knowledge, these individuals have not officially been disappeared.

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/source-leaked-documents-show-the-us-government-tracking-journalists-and-advocates-through-a-secret-database/3438/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

And absolutely all of the roadblocks, legal restrictions, grownups pushing back, worry over public sentiment, etc have been eliminated. Expect it to be much, much worse than you thought.

Any comparison to what has happened in the past is out the window.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

get around to at least attempting to deanonymize and round up online antifascists

They already know exactly who you are. People dont understand how pervasive online surveilance and profiling is. AI makes it simple to compile dossiers on everyone.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Ah yes, as always, the ever-knowing magical AI. Because all the secrets of the universe can be aggregated using just few multiline prompts to the ChatGPT.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Not chatGPT. But AIs are good at one single thing and that is pattern recognition. And there is a lot of data to train and use those AIs on. Decades of data from your PCs, phones and tablets is on NSA servers. And yes, the NSA did shit like recording you through your notebook camera or recording your phone calls with your first girlfriend.

AI will probably never replace human workers/engineers/artists/..., but sorting through your online history is exactly what AIs excel at.

Also Dragnet policies are used by the police for a long time now. This is pretty much just that. Imo the main question is more if they want to burn that data on this task, because once they do this some people will adjust and it will get harder to get new data.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Can we all take a moment to consider the very real information the NSA has on trump and how they are doing nothing about him?

The alphabet boys must be tired of lurking in the shadows.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 weeks ago

I don't think it's very likely. Even if it was even remotely affordable or feasible he actually needs opposition to define himself and his base 'ruggedly independent' and as 'freedom fighters'.

If he's going to go after anyone at all I think it will be high profile people for maximum media impact.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 weeks ago

Not likely. This is hyperbole.

What is most likely going to happen is that any right-wing, MAGA cultist and whatever. They won't be penalized for any harassment or antagonizing behaviors committed by them to those they don't like.

That's the reality.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Online? No. Online disorganized leftists aren't actually leftists, they're leftist sympathizers. You need to be in a leftist org to actually be a leftist.

You're not a threat unless you're actually doing stuff.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 weeks ago

It all comes to how anonymous you are on the net. I'd say having a mainstream social media account is right now a high risk if you live in the US, specially considering that Kethamine Karen owns one one of them.

This to say that deanonymizing you might be cheaper than you think, making it more likely than we all expect. If you want to keep using tnose socials, I'd start by deleting my accounts and creating new ones using new data (such as disposable mails or aliases that forward to your real email)

Of course, a trusted vpn is a must in these cases. And there is a lot you should be doing on top of all this.

Right now, if you want to keep your anti-trump line, be prepared to be treated as an enemy, so consider the deanonymation a highly likely possibility.

[–] Yerbouti 10 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

It's a proud fascist country now. Be prepare for ANYTHING.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago

And then realize you hadn't prepared nearly enough.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Not likely. Trump doesn't even know what those words mean. Temporarily jailing them and protesters is likely a different story, though.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 weeks ago

For people organizing protests and taking part in them, Maybe to Likely.

For people just posting things online, Very unlikely. They'll have their hands full with all the immigrants and protesters first, and there's far too many people who have said something leftist online.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

Given the majority of the supreme court are constitutional literalists, I'm going to stake a claim on very unlikely. That is literally against the first amendment.

Now, let's say we live in some kind of bizaro land where you can be taken to court without the protection of the first amendment. (Difficult ti believe I know). You would still, hopefully, have a right to an attorney. If your case is high profile, or you have enough money, an organization like the aclu would help.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

It isn't November 2016 anymore. Trump has been president before and whatever you think of his first term, you already know (roughly) what tends to happen when he is president (if you are too young, there is a near-infinite amount of news articles, social media discussions, wiki articles where you can look it up). I somewhat understood fears like this in late 2016 when a Trump administration was an unprecedented phenomenon, but now?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

But in 2016, he didn't know what he was doing. He didn't expect to win. It's very different this time around.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

And when do you think he started to know what he was doing? 2017, 2018, 2019, never? If not in any of these years, then why would he know it in 2025?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

the heritage foundation is surrounding trump with money and advisors so that they can finish the work that they started in this country in 1980. (they're the people who created project 2025)

they've been successful with other countries and that's taught them how to get things done within the frameworks of other governments and they've also been successful in this country with sympathetic administrations; so they have plenty of experience in making things happen.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago

Woooo boy! I'll be right there in the camps with you buddy! Party time!

[–] WhyJiffie 4 points 4 weeks ago

you don't have to be imprisoned to have your life ruined. there are many relatively subtle ways to do that

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago

Resisting arrest. Never mind what the arrest is for.

[–] Awesomo85 3 points 4 weeks ago

Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] -1 points 4 weeks ago

If you just post stuff on the Internet, you don't have to worry. At least this type of stuff.