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Holy shit.

The Russian gov send in an abuse request for the @Bellingcat to be removed from mstdn.social :amaze:

I am not gonna comply, and have replied to Hetzner

No way I'm gonna let the evils of the gremlin dictate stuff on anything I host

UPDATE: Hetzner ignores their requests and we're in the clear: mstdn.social/@stux/11366257336…


Nice!♥️ Got a reply and Hetzner just ignores the bullshit from the Kremlin

Wish it where that easy with the war in Ukraine..


This entry was edited (6 days ago)
in reply to stux⚡

Dear Putler,

Go fuck yourself to hell.

Sincerely

reshared this

in reply to stux⚡

got something similar some time ago, replied almost the same, was good for Hetzner 😅. You are just required to answer, and “fck you” is sufficient.
in reply to stux⚡

Yyyeeeehhhheeee....✊️✊️✊️✊️✊️...🤜🤛....✌️👉...To HELL...🤘
in reply to stux⚡

rkn.gov.ru? isn't that like Russian Government Censor Committee something something?
in reply to stux⚡

fucking pieces of shit, their grubby hands are now trying to abuse Mastodon...

appreciate the call Stux, I can help composing a reply towards Roskomnadzor in russian if needed haha

in reply to stux⚡

BTW

Please feel free to send some fun mails to that address :cat_hug_triangle:

Keep the fuckers busy for a while

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

That email address appears it might have a unique username component, associated just with this case or a specific office. I suspect Roskomnadzor has dealt with email bombs before.
in reply to stux⚡

Thank you for posting this and thank you for your excellent response.

There's no end to how insidious Russian manipulation is in trying to shift views, and there's much too much apologia for it online — including on the Fediverse.

Being open and transparent about it like this is super helpful in combating it.

Urban Hermit reshared this.

in reply to stux⚡

We are talking about decentralisation, but what exactly will happen if, for example, Russia blocks server X. Will people in Russia who are on server A be able to continue reading accounts on server X?
in reply to stux⚡

About the same weight as a DMCA takedown notice 🤡
in reply to stux⚡

Well, that's a follow.

I wish I knew the exact post that has them sweating, undoubtedly something true and secret that they didn't think could be implied by evidence.

People who conduct assassinations probably should not let things they are afraid of be known. But they wouldn't be violent if they were clever.

Yeah, fuck you Putler.

Urban Hermit reshared this.

in reply to Urban Hermit

@Urban_Hermit Wasn't it the one about Putin and Trump being in a sexual relationship? Or am I thinking of something I read on @lowqualityfacts ? Sounds too plausible for Low Quality Facts...
in reply to stux⚡

bwhahahaha, thanks for the amazing reminder to donate again xD
in reply to stux⚡

bellingcat is helping save the world. We must protect them at all costs
in reply to stux⚡

Remind me to up my monthly donations to the server 😉
in reply to stux⚡

If we do need to comply with Hetzner on this, I'm gonna look into an option to get mstdn.social in-home, like literally so they won't be able to touch anything

But that's a last resort since I do not have the hardware not money for that currently

At least there's options just in case

@Bellingcat

in reply to stux⚡

If Hetzner really want to comply with this - then it is the wrong step and we should show that to Hetzner...
@Bellingcat
This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

I would start looking for other EU server providers immediately because other people have had #Hetzner yank their access away without warning, delete their data, and hide behind their TOS as a reason to do so.

Even attempting to bring everything in house would be a massive up-front investment, you'd probably have to jump through legal hoops for zoning purposes, and you'd have large ongoing expenses for redundant power, internet access, and hardware
@Bellingcat

in reply to stux⚡

Now might be a good time to do a in-instance pop-up notification to your users and warning that you may experience downtime and why.
in reply to stux⚡

we could also set up a separate bellingcat instance if that would be more appropriate or convenient.
in reply to stux⚡

@koen
Same. More than willing to help out, have them on Exquisite or setup an instance for them. Bellingcat is doing incredibly important work (and so are you by the way) :flan_heart: :flan_hacker:
in reply to stux⚡

Let us know if you need a specific fundraising effort for this. I'm sure you'll get lots of support.
in reply to stux⚡

Hetzner has previously taken action re: Russian dealings. So 🤞

lowendbox.com/blog/hetzner-tel…

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

Isn't Herzner known for taking down queer(-friendly) instances without really letting them defending themselves?
in reply to stux⚡

What is the current server at hetzner?
I am evaluating if I can help if you go hosting@not-DataCenter.
in reply to stux⚡

Have to wonder how #Bluesky could stand up to this kind of pressure. Long live decentralization and the #fediverse. Thanks, Stux.
in reply to stux⚡

look into the cybergeek brand on amazon. you’d be amazed at what 550$ can get you. Do it quick before drumpf causes the prices to treble. Don’t be afraid to ask users to help you with it. I’d throw a 20$ bill your way just for shits and giggles.
in reply to stux⚡

I guess Hetzner just forwards it without any opinion. I wouldn't panic. Russia doesn't have any jurisdiction in Germany or the Netherlands. It's pure bluff.
in reply to stux⚡

I have no idea about your requirements but you can contact me for hosting if necessary
in reply to stux⚡

if Hetzner will kick you or similar just DM me and we provide you a server free of charge for it
in reply to stux⚡

luckily you won't have to, but I would chip in if necessary.
in reply to stux⚡

if the Russian government wants them taken down, I should follow them. @Bellingcat has a new follower
in reply to stux⚡

What’s the adequate reply to this email?

Wrong answers only.

I will allow myself to start:

“Since when did gas stations start sending abuse notices?”

in reply to stux⚡

but every media outlet should really have their own server on the fedi. this is our killer app for journalistic freedom. why AP should win.

it's why I always bring up @mondoweiss already running their own server. I'm sure they are constantly pissing off the Israeli govt, who will spin such stories as antisemitic and probably convince a few admins of that view.

we can't have access to important stories going viral dictated by a few rich people, VCs or corporate interests.

in reply to stux⚡

Tell them that if they want to contact you they can download a Windows .exe file that functions (allegedly) as random number generator. That is, after all, what they ask others to do who wish to contact them.

krebsonsecurity.com/2021/06/ad…

in reply to stux⚡

I suppose they're tracking which accounts interact with the reaction to their request...
@Bellingcat
in reply to stux⚡

Le gouvernement russe a demandé la suppression du compte @Bellingcat sur mstdn.social, ce qui soulève des inquiétudes quant à la censure croissante sur les réseaux sociaux. Ce développement met en lumière les défis auxquels sont confrontées les plateformes indépendantes face à la pression gouvernementale pour censurer le contenu critique. 🔒📉 #Censure #LibertéDExpression #Bellingcat
in reply to stux⚡

You know you're doing something right when you get emails from The Kremlin asking to take shit down. Keep up the great work!

@Bellingcat

in reply to stux⚡

I don't see any recent post about Russia or Ukraine in @Bellingcat 's timeline. Is there anything I've been missing ? Or is it a long prepared war against any potential threat to the Kremlin's crappy propaganda ?
in reply to stux⚡

well, let's just hope hetzner are not going to just cancel your account like they usually do...
in reply to stux⚡

You seem totally unaware of the fact that bellingcat is a US propaganda tool.
in reply to stux⚡

The head of Roskomnadzor is on the EU sanctions list, cf. eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten…

This action, again performed under his leadership, again "create[s] a censored information space that promotes, aids and condones the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine."

I would propose reporting this to the appropriate Commission service.

in reply to stux⚡

Bellingcat is welcome to set up a backup account @fairdinkum.one - in fact they should set up dozens all over Mastodon. 👍

P.S. #FuckRussia!

Invite: fairdinkum.one/invite/aNgdcESz

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

Since when does Russia have any sway on what's posted on Social Media )Bessides X that is.

therecord.media/russia-doubles…

"They are doing it as we sit here."
Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III

"Russia, Russia, Russia, it was all a hoax, fake news"
D. tRump
An Exhaustive Compendium of Russian Collusion & US Election Intrusions and
Propaganda
tinyurl.com/5a3raftm

in reply to stux⚡

TBH, if Hetzner take action on that and not the ddos sources in their network, something is going seriously wrong.
I agree with the others on this, roscomnadzor are just trying their luck. They have zero teeth outside Russia.
in reply to stux⚡

Does it contain more details / explanation of what belingcat did wrong? Or russia just requsted deletion?
in reply to stux⚡

ehh Really wonder if anybody expected something to happen or some poor being just got hit by falling sh..-I mean order- so he/she just requested deletinon.

Maybe we can try to order them to get out of ukraine in 24hrs. Or maybe in 72 if they leave some vodka on current possitions...

in reply to stux⚡

Have they tried carrying sunflower seeds in their pockets? I've been told it's a great homiopathic cure for all sorts of mental illnesses, anxiety, inferiority, paranoia, ethno nationalism. Perhaps that would work instead 😏 of deplatforming @Bellingcat
in reply to stux⚡

Hey @mookie This thread made me think of your "Best to avoid Hetzner" posts a few days ago.
in reply to stux⚡

might be a good time to campaign for dismantling of the laws designed to enable such abuses.

5 seconds edit: This just reads a lot like DMCA and similar laws all over the globe. Not sure if those applies here though.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

Как бы мне не не нравилось то, как организована работа РКН, и то, какие указания спускаются им сверху.

Но считают отличной дискредитацией самих себя, начав с оскорблений в ответ на вежливое письмо. Даже с учётом того, что в письме действительно нет точного указания, что именно на странице нарушает закон. Начать стоит как минимум с ответного письма с попыткой узнать что именно не так (кто знает, может быть на странице действительно было что то плохое?) И уже не получив ответа начать вонять.

А так вы просто показываете себя как простого невежду.

in reply to stux⚡

I would have liked to have seen the last few address lines of the communication.
in reply to stux⚡

узкие занесли свои крысиные лапки над феди
дай нам всем бог терпения и настойчивости
in reply to stux⚡

Fucking russian clowns.

But that reminds me: The book "We are Bellingcat" is still on my TBR. I will put it on top.

in reply to stux⚡

Let's see how long it takes the Trumpies to echo that Russian take-down request in the US.
This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

did they report a specific thing? Or just the entire profile?
in reply to stux⚡

I wonder if Hetzner is acting legally in responding to the Russian state; perhaps they should check that with their lawyers; would it be counted as 'technical assistance'?
in reply to stux⚡

@Bellingcat As a Russian, I can only say...

Thank you.

in reply to stux⚡

i'm not sure i got it.
Did they wrote that thing to you or to you hosting provider ?
And why a free-world hosting provider should care about what Mordor would like ?

They can disconnect from internet and connect to Kwangmyong for all i care

in reply to stux⚡

Hetzner should reply to the Russians with the bill to fix the baltic sea cable to Finland.
This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

and considering the huge success , @Bellingcat should bridge to bluesky too
in reply to stux⚡

The best way to fight this?

Each censorship attempt equals a donation to the Ukrainian Armed Forces to whip these mofos' nazi ass.

Telling them so. "Thank you. Your latest attempt at censorship earned x$ for the UAF", or something like that.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

I love asking people who do things for the Russian Government and Putin specifically

What does Putin's dick taste like?

#MAGAIdiots go insane when I ask this. I wonder why.

in reply to stux⚡

what’s the Hetzner everyone is talking about on this thread?
in reply to stux⚡

I'm using @hetznerstatus mainly finish servers - if they force you to remove bellingcat I'm closing my hetzner accounts
This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

Let’s see how their ban will work, it’s quite interesting… 🤔
in reply to stux⚡

Hahaha, and then russia wonders why they are so hated. Censoring people who can't even control. As a member of NAFO, this looks like another prime example of the kremlin's intellectual weakness. Pathetic.
@stux @Bellingcat
in reply to stux⚡

Btw. roskomnadzor blocks mstdn.social and whole Hetzner for retail internet users.
in reply to stux⚡

And now I follow Bellingcat. The Russian government can go eat a bag of dicks.
in reply to Jason Howard :sdf:

@jhoward Don't waste good dick to Russians. I would say give them a bag of shit to eat but that's wasting good fertiliser!
This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

while I'm not a member of your instance, thank you for your transparency in this matter.
in reply to stux⚡

The fediverse is starting to come under attacks by state actors.

This will not end well. We are not prepared.

in reply to stux⚡

Well if Russia wants them gone then they must be worth following
in reply to stux⚡

Just looking for an excuse to censor you, sounds like.
in reply to stux⚡

Classic case of Streisand effect. First thing I do upon hearing this? Follow @Bellingcat - they must be doing something right
in reply to stux⚡

btw. since you're hosting users likely to be targeted by a government:

After dealing with this abuse request stuff, you might want to take a look at this, if you haven't already: devever.net/~hl/xmpp-incident

in reply to stux⚡

Roskomnadzor is a designated entity in the EU. Is Hetzner doing anything with their demands other than ignoring them or immediate refusal not material support?
in reply to stux⚡

Send Putin the Russian joke about Stalin's pipe: Stalin can't find his pipe, so he calls in Beria, his head of the secret police. Stalin says,
"Beria, someone stole my pipe. Find the guy." Beria says, "I'll get right on it." About a half hour later, Stalin calls Beria back and says, "You can call off your dogs. The pipe fell being my desk." Beria says, "What a pity. We have 13 suspects and 12 have already confessed."
in reply to stux⚡

And this is why I am honored and grateful that you are my admin.
in reply to stux⚡

fuck that Putin asshole and his request.
However, given that I heard about at least three instances of "hetzner decided to cancel my contract and deleted my data after just one email", I would advise for backups that are not hosted on hetzner and maybe a rough idea where you would like to host if hetzner drops you.
Also, a good time to get your domain name recovery codes etc etc.
in reply to stux⚡

Whiners gonna whine.
russia and its clownshow of a kleptocratic govt can fuck right off.
in reply to stux⚡

Naz*Rus* looks more alike radam (in Japanese Animation Tekkaman Blade) than gremlin as of the evilness.
in reply to stux⚡

Prolly some troll from Xitler’s little sewer made a request.
in reply to stux⚡

What a terrible loss it would be, if CIAcat's account was removed. Better stomp your feet on the ground and show them evil Russians that only US can dictate here.

thegrayzone.com/2018/10/29/sha…

in reply to cwtshycwtsh

@cwtshycwtsh We do have rules against spreading mis info, what you seem to do here

So yeah

Meet the hammer :banhammer:

in reply to stux⚡

You need to answer with UA poststamps:

"Russian warship, go and f**k yourself" (as reported by worldwide media)
@Bellingcat

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

I thought about this case.

1. As others noted: they didn't cite any broken law or offending text. Without any of this, IMHO Hetzner should just drop such a complaint.

2. As @Bellingcat is clearly a journalistic account, they have the protection of Art 5 GG. Even if you're not from Germany, Hetzer is and therefore this applies. Yes, this is meant for the state, but it should be applied to companies as well.

3. Ping some German journalists to push it to the general public.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to stux⚡

in the words of the defenders of Snake Island:

Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй

in reply to stux⚡

I wish you luck. If I understand correctly, Hetzner has a history of over-complying with such requests. 😬
in reply to stux⚡

@Bellingcat has a new follower, Streisand effect is going well, Thanks Putler
in reply to stux⚡

Damn, not that it's needed, but that's one heck of an endorsement.

@Bellingcat

in reply to stux⚡

Please let us know what's happening in the coming days. I'm using a few #Hetzner services and if they decide to act like a ruSSian propaganda puppet I'll move all my data to somewhere else, let them know why I did it and tell others about it.
in reply to stux⚡

Hopefully nothing happens though when I've gotten abuse reports from unsavory countries like that they froze my account until I complied
in reply to stux⚡

@artcollisions
Thanks to the Streisand Effect, I just learned about and now follow @Bellingcat.

Thank you, Russian government!

in reply to stux⚡

Stux is about to use the Castle Doctrine to the fullest extent, and I'm here for it.
in reply to stux⚡

If "The Federal Service for the Supervision of Communications" isn't the most dystopian phrase I've ever heard, it certainly makes the top five.
in reply to stux⚡

Someone should get a badge or bumper sticker for that.
in reply to stux⚡

Hi! Russian here, they are just bullying or looking for more reasons to ban hetzner or Mastodon server in Russia (since their argument only makes sense in Russian regime's "law"). I think Hetzner is smart enough not to take any actions based on that joke of a reasoning (I'm looking at you, Apple!).
in reply to stux⚡

Unfortunately, Hetzner may not accept that and just take down your server, considering what happened to itch.io last week...
@Bellingcat
in reply to stux⚡

I say congrats to Putin for exposing more people to Bellingcat.
in reply to stux⚡

perfect moment for a donation to keep this mastodon server running, keep up the good work!
in reply to stux⚡

Could be worse could find yourself defenestrated....
in reply to stux⚡

This is just the latest in a string of problems I've been hearing about with Hetzner as a hosting provider: perhaps you should consider moving.
If @Bellingcat needs to go somewhere else, or wants to create a mirror somewhere, there are plenty of servers that would be happy to do so, with hosting companies that will have an immediate middle finger response to any requests for takedowns by the Russian government.
in reply to Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@Raccoon It's no worry 😉

Hetzner is okay with it and just ignores their requests!

mstdn.social/@stux/11366257336…


Nice!♥️ Got a reply and Hetzner just ignores the bullshit from the Kremlin

Wish it where that easy with the war in Ukraine..


in reply to stux⚡

Good on you. They can't Novichok every mastodon admin.
in reply to stux⚡

That’s great news in regards to the update. I really worried that they somehow managed to wrangle their way into copyright strike routines, but I guess it was an intimidation tactics in confines of Russian law.
in reply to stux⚡

Awesome, good on you for standing up to the bullies and cheers to #Hetzner!
This entry was edited (6 days ago)
in reply to stux⚡

Thanks for update. Good precedent: Hetzner ignores (Russian) govt takedown demand.
in reply to stux⚡

In times like these it must feel good to be a voice for all the victims on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17).

Good job!

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