13 barn owls in a trenchcoatAug 16, 2023

I'd been wondering why I'd heard so little from Naomi Wu lately, and the reason is unhappily worse than Twitter breaking API based post mirroring to Mastodon.

(TL;DR, she's been silenced by the authorities.)

Worth reading in full, as the end includes a brief interview and suggests that her earlier highlighting of the security risks of compromised keyboards to E2E encrypted messaging turned out to be potentially relevant.

https://www.hackingbutlegal.com/naomi-wu-and-the-silence-that-speaks-volumes/

Naomi Wu and the Silence That Speaks Volumes

When China's prodigious tech influencer, Naomi Wu, found herself silenced, it wasn't just the machinery of a surveillance state at play. Instead, it was a confluence of state repression and the sometimes capricious attention of a Western audience that, as she asserts, often views Chinese activists more as ideological tokens

Hacking, but Legal
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@HauntedOwlbear

Obviously Naomi's personal circumstances are much more of an issue here and I hope she and Kaidi are okay and we'll one day see her back in full flight.

And yes, a hearty Fuck You to all the western media outlets who decided to do it their way despite the consequences.

But also Shenzhen has lost a great ambassador ...
like a lot of westerners I'd only ever known the name from shipping labels and imagined nothing but a vast array of warehouses, but Naomi showed off a human and exciting city full of innovation and excitement (and cute dogs).

Aug 16, 2023 at 11:25pmWeb