10 ms·

I don't think there were allegations that you couldn't type Free Tibet?

avodonosov 5y ago
What exactly are the allegations then? "have a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as "Free Tibet" Censor by preventing one posting the phrase? Removing the phrase from web pages? What are the steps to reproduce?
- tyingq 5y ago
  The allegation is that the censorship code is there. It's disabled on phones in western markets, but can be enabled remotely by the manufacturer.
  - oblak 5y ago
    So, it's better than US made spyware which cannot be removed from "our" PC CPUs? Best we can do is "disable" these features in the BIOS/UEFI and sleep well, even though we nothing's really stopped. Sorry for the whataboutism but I am lot less concerned about Chinese spyware because I know for a fact that my government serves the EU and the US. All this anti China propaganda is really tiresome. China this, China that. Someone seems really scared. Fuck this someone
    - trasz 5y ago
      As you can see, one gets downvoted quickly when pointing out double standards, or posting anything else that could interfere with anti-Chinese propaganda efforts.
      - tyingq 5y ago
        The reply was to my fairly "just the facts" statement, where I didn't characterize what was happening, just explained it.
  - severino 5y ago
    > It's disabled on phones in western markets, but can be enabled remotely by the manufacturer Well, I think everything can be enabled remotely by your manufacturer, no matter which... it is what we call "software upgrades". But for me, a western, it's actually good to have a phone controlled by the Chinese. I would be concerned if it were controlled by my government, though.
  - onepointsixC 5y ago
    It's also in Chinese, so if it is activated typing it in English doesn't do anything. But that's not to say that it can't be also updated to be other languages
- reginold 5y ago
  It's all covered in the 32 page research report: Xiaomi system applications (Security, MiBrowser, Cleaner, MIUI Package Installer and Themes) have been found to regularly download the manufacturer’s updated configuration file MiAdBlacklistConfig from a server located in Singapore. This file contains a list composed of the titles, names and other information of various religious and political groups and social movements (at the time the analysis was performed, 449 records were identified in the MiAdBlacklistConfig file). Analysis of the Xiaomi application code showed that the applications have implemented software classes for filtering the target multimedia displayed on the device according to the downloaded MiAdBlacklistConfig list. This allows a Xiaomi device to perform an analysis of the target multimedia content entering a phone: to search for keywords based on the MiAdBlacklist list received from the server. When it is determined that such content contains keywords from the list, the device blocks this content. It is thought that this functionality can pose potential threats to the free availability of information. PDF here: https://www.nksc.lt/doc/en/analysis/2021-08-23_5G-CN-analysis_env3.pdf https://www.nksc.lt/doc/en/analysis/2021-08-23_5G-CN-analysi...
  - avodonosov 5y ago
    Right
    - reginold 5y ago
      I don't understand what you're saying or intending with your comments. There are 32 pages in the report. I'm curious about steps to replicate as well, generally for stuff like this.
      - avodonosov 5y ago
        I mean the piece quoted above is the correct original source. I wanted to post exactly this snippet myself. From that a possible test case can be to open this HN thread in MiBrowser and see the webpage blocked due to the "free Tibet" phrases posted here (assuming MiAdBlacklistConfig includes English versions). If anyone has a Xiaomi phone and is willing to accept the MiBrowser terms of use, please try.

What exactly are the allegations then? "have a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as "Free Tibet" Censor by preventing one posting the phrase? Removing the phrase from web pages? What are the steps to reproduce?

tyingq 5y ago
The allegation is that the censorship code is there. It's disabled on phones in western markets, but can be enabled remotely by the manufacturer.
- oblak 5y ago
  So, it's better than US made spyware which cannot be removed from "our" PC CPUs? Best we can do is "disable" these features in the BIOS/UEFI and sleep well, even though we nothing's really stopped. Sorry for the whataboutism but I am lot less concerned about Chinese spyware because I know for a fact that my government serves the EU and the US. All this anti China propaganda is really tiresome. China this, China that. Someone seems really scared. Fuck this someone
  - trasz 5y ago
    As you can see, one gets downvoted quickly when pointing out double standards, or posting anything else that could interfere with anti-Chinese propaganda efforts.
    - tyingq 5y ago
      The reply was to my fairly "just the facts" statement, where I didn't characterize what was happening, just explained it.
- severino 5y ago
  > It's disabled on phones in western markets, but can be enabled remotely by the manufacturer Well, I think everything can be enabled remotely by your manufacturer, no matter which... it is what we call "software upgrades". But for me, a western, it's actually good to have a phone controlled by the Chinese. I would be concerned if it were controlled by my government, though.
- onepointsixC 5y ago
  It's also in Chinese, so if it is activated typing it in English doesn't do anything. But that's not to say that it can't be also updated to be other languages
reginold 5y ago
It's all covered in the 32 page research report: Xiaomi system applications (Security, MiBrowser, Cleaner, MIUI Package Installer and Themes) have been found to regularly download the manufacturer’s updated configuration file MiAdBlacklistConfig from a server located in Singapore. This file contains a list composed of the titles, names and other information of various religious and political groups and social movements (at the time the analysis was performed, 449 records were identified in the MiAdBlacklistConfig file). Analysis of the Xiaomi application code showed that the applications have implemented software classes for filtering the target multimedia displayed on the device according to the downloaded MiAdBlacklistConfig list. This allows a Xiaomi device to perform an analysis of the target multimedia content entering a phone: to search for keywords based on the MiAdBlacklist list received from the server. When it is determined that such content contains keywords from the list, the device blocks this content. It is thought that this functionality can pose potential threats to the free availability of information. PDF here: https://www.nksc.lt/doc/en/analysis/2021-08-23_5G-CN-analysis_env3.pdf https://www.nksc.lt/doc/en/analysis/2021-08-23_5G-CN-analysi...
- avodonosov 5y ago
  Right
  - reginold 5y ago
    I don't understand what you're saying or intending with your comments. There are 32 pages in the report. I'm curious about steps to replicate as well, generally for stuff like this.
    - avodonosov 5y ago
      I mean the piece quoted above is the correct original source. I wanted to post exactly this snippet myself. From that a possible test case can be to open this HN thread in MiBrowser and see the webpage blocked due to the "free Tibet" phrases posted here (assuming MiAdBlacklistConfig includes English versions). If anyone has a Xiaomi phone and is willing to accept the MiBrowser terms of use, please try.