Thought crimes are not theoretical, and myriad examples reveal that states do prosecute and penalize them today and have for years. Julian Assange is an egregious example of this, but far less apparent means are far more often undertaken to do so. Shadow banning is not a new development, nor limited to social media, as can be understood from researching financial mechanisms used to prevent communities from rational development undertaken by inhabitants and limiting equity to approved entities.

I have long advocated mesh networks, which have proven to surmount platform based censorship during political unrest in the last decade. From Egypt to Hong Kong, civilian development and use of mesh networks has enabled dissidents to maintain communications despite platform level surveillance and censorship.

Absent far wider reach and broader distribution of such mechanisms, free speech as facilitated on Steem will soon be impossible. I have personally been censored on every platform I have undertaken to speak forthrightly on, including Gab, Pocketnet, and every other platform enabling accounts. It is why I am concerned about the transfer of equity from extant owners of Stinc to institutions more closely associated, or even captive, to actors undertaking surveillance and censorship.

Back in the day, Lopht began developing a mesh network using satellite dishes and bespoke microwave communications networks on public bandwidths. Despite their strong motivations, this effort was unable to become viable due to lack of a market, as the vast majority of individuals were not nominally motivated to adopt that mechanism.

As time goes on, deception and deliberate restraint of surveillance and censorship resulting from it has lulled the West into complacency. I expect that until marked repression of free speech impacts society more directly, such developments will continue to remain irrelevant, and after such impacts provide nominal incentive such development and adoption will be impossible.

We see this occurring in China today, as Uighurs, Falun Gong, and other dissidents are horrifically censored and repressed, including by having their organs terminally removed, and their families separated with men going to concentration camps and women given as chattel to politically determined owners. It's too late for Chinese dissidents to develop and deploy mesh networks today, due to the competence of the surveillance state to intervene, and bad actors will adopt proven mechanisms as developments necessitate everywhere else.

I hope this is no more than a rumor, but am prepared to take action necessary to maintain security.

Thanks!