The story is chilling. Russia is holding a three day election for the Dumas. The Navalny opposition created a brilliant app to help Russian voters in not only voting against the Putin government but having a better chance of voting for people who will defeat Putin sponsored candidates. It is a dynamic app which will tell individuals as they are going to the polls which candidate is most likely to be successful against the establishment candidate (by the way are you listening social justice democrats — from everything I hear it is brilliant). Putin’s party is only at 30%, he will cheat and he will not accept any loss, so I don’t know ultimately how successful it will be. But it has the possibility of pushing Putin and his gang of thieves as close to the wall as they have ever been. EXCEPT. Putin’s government leaned on Apple and Google and they removed it from their app systems, the Apple store and Google play. The fact that Apple and Google were willing to fold so quickly for a few rubles is very bad. These organizations will put their profit above almost anything. But the fact that the news media is barely covering it is worse. Why? And what does this hold for our own future. What happens when the social justice democrats do come up with an app and president J.D. Vance (I apologize for even writing it publicly) put pressure on these companies to kill it? Do you think they will say no.
But it is also the hypocrisy of the news media. The app is a real opportunity for the peaceful transition of power. Remember how when we were leaving Afghanistan there was all this wailing that we were abandoning democracy, women’s rights, and open society which we must protect through the business end of a gun. The Navalny app may be the first major use of technology in a way that brings revolution through peaceful means. Not a word. Must not cross the people who actually pay their salaries.