Tik Tok? What about it?

Communication in the post internet world

Kind of winging this one. On January 19th 2025, Tik Tok was banned. The millennial world is in an uproar. For some its an infringement on 1st amendment rights. For others it’s a “High time we put them commies in their place!” And for others its a huge hit to their online presence. And for another group it is a huge hit to their monetization of their business.

And for another group it is the beginning of the end of communication.

Well focus on that for a minute.

Now I’m going to use some uncomfortable facts and images. Nothing very graphic, but for some it my be sensitive.

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First lets talk about Russia. It’s well known, but not well documented that the Russian government can and has shut down their internet.

In late June, in the aftermath of the failed Wagner Group rebellion, the Kremlin moved swiftly to censor social media and scrub the Russian internet of details of the attempted coup. The digital crackdown has continued in the months since, as President Vladimir Putin has sought to re-consolidate control. But at the same time, another, less-publicized endeavor also took place—the Kremlin embarked on a test to disconnect Russia from the global internet.

The exercise, which took place on 2 July, tested Russia’s ‘sovereign internet’ and its ability to act independently. According to a statement released by Russia’s Ministry of Communications, the test was a success. Roskomnadzor, the government agency responsible for controlling Russian mass media, worked with telecommunications companies and internet service providers to disconnect the country from the global internet for a few hours. https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/putins-quest-to-disconnect-russia-from-the-global-internet/

And this https://www.rt.com/russia/579262-sovereign-internet-blockade-test/Russian authorities briefly disconnected the country from the global internet earlier this week, the media outlet RBK reported on Wednesday, citing sources within the telecommunications industry. The move was part of a legally mandated test to assess whether domestic networks can handle operating on their own.

The “international Internet was turned off” at one point between Tuesday and Wednesday, as the media regulator Roskomnadzor checked the performance of Russian sites and network-dependent services in the event that the country is disconnected from abroad.

Some may say that, that is typical of Russia. But what if that happens in the US?

Lets look at Tic Tok. On January 19th this appeared on Tic Tok users apps

“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S., Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

That is the US Government using legislative power turning off an app nationwide.

And now for one that some may find objectionable is this one for a website called “Porn Hub” A friend of questionable tastes told me about this one so I went to find out.

Dear user,

As you may know, your elected officials in South Carolina are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website. While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk.

In addition, mandating age verification without proper enforcement gives platforms the opportunity to choose whether or not to comply. As we’ve seen in other states, this just drives traffic to sites with far fewer safety measures in place. Very few sites are able to compare to the robust Trust and Safety measures we currently have in place.

I won’t post the link since for some it may not be blocked. These two are very different sites but with the same blocks Both were a state and or a federal government decision to have a site blocked, and both are “voluntary” by the site owners.

So why this writing about two controversial sites being blocked by the owners at the behest of the government? And the government of another country? And what does that have to do with preppers and homesteaders in general?

Simple to show that no matter where you live, our communications are at the control of another.

So why this writing about two controversial sites being blocked by the owners at the behest of the government? And the government of another country? And what does that have to do with preppers? Homesteaders and Pagan Homesteaders in general?

Simple to show that no matter where you live, our communications are at the control of another.

Radio. Ham radio in particular. There are those that feel it’s government over reach to require citizens to have a Ham radio license. Maybe it is. But it is what it is. But ham radio is a method of communication. I have advised folks to get their ham license and practice with their radios. Why? Why not just do it and .gov be damned. Well you can. But you’re limited pretty much to simplex short range use. You can listen in on long range communication. But replying, and getting caught doing it and you may get this.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposes penalties for unlicensed use of amateur (ham) radios. The exact nature of the violation determines the severity of the penalty. For minor violations, fines can range up to $500 per incident. However, for more serious violations, such as operating a radio station without FCC authorization, fines can be up to $10,000, equipment can be confiscated, and individuals may face up to a year in jail under the Communication Act of 1934.

You can get away with it for a while, but there are a lot of ham operators that monitors and checks call signs. And once a pattern is established the FCC can and will come knocking at your door.

I’m going to leave my personal opinions out of it. But I am going to say that I feel it is vital for homesteaders and preppers to get their ham ticket and here is the why.

By having your ticket, you practice on your radio. Ham operators love helping new operators. By learning the limits of your radio legally (for now!) you can learn what it can and cannot do. The test is not hard, and not expensive. Sure there may become a time that a little piece of paper is only good for one thing. But by spending the time to get your ticket, and then spending the time practicing with your radios.

So what type of practice will help if things go down? Here in South Carolina and all states is something called ARES, or Amateur Emergency Radio Service. When land lines and Cell towers went down we provided links to the “outside” world. We passed information on food fuel and water. Directed local EMS to areas of need. And set up radio to phone links. So how does this help the prepping homesteader? We have a monthly practice that lasts a full day. And we put in all sorts of problems to teach us how to make our radio work with out the repeater network

Lets say cell phone and land line is taken down by a CME. And you had your radios in a Faraday cage. And you need to talk on a regular basis to another homesteader 20 miles away that you need to stay in touch with. AND you know that your radio has only a 10 mile range. You set up a repeater. With the spare handy talkies you had thoughtfully stored. But you never got your license. And never learned how to set offsets or tones. It can be done by trial and error and time. But you need to get help from them NOW.

Now if you had taken the time to configure it, And practice with it with other hams, you’d save hours if not days of work in setting up lines of communications.

First I don’t want to come off with the I told you so or project a chiding attitude. To many folks want to stay off the “Government Radar” by not having a “ticket” But by NOT having your ticket, you place yourself at a much higher risk. And the benefits of being able to practice legally will pay of greatly if things go bad. Back in NM our group set up a series of private repeaters, Legal ones. Made from Baofeng radios a duplexer and two good dipoles. We also used a harbor freight solar battery charger to keep the radios charged.

Looks like I need to make a new post on how to make one!. The idea I’m trying to get across is get your ham license. Practice now with the radio. Learn what it can and cant do. And if your current one is the right one.

But the point here is you can keep communicating when the grid and the net goes down. Learning how to do it low will save headaches in the future.

Next time we'll talk about POTS. Plain Old Telephone System. You don't need AT&T to make a local phone network.