PROTESTORS USE “PRIVATE INTERNET” FT’s
Post# of 63700
FT’s Hannah Kuchler in San Francisco: “Protesters in Hong Kong are forming their own ‘private internet’ using a chat app to communicate despite the government restricting access to some social networks and the failure of cellular systems. Some 100,000 people in Hong Kong have downloaded the FireChat app in the past 24 hours and the messaging service has risen to number one in the territory’s Apple app store. …
“Chinese censors have blocked Instagram and some search terms on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service, to prevent images of the tens of thousands of protesters in Hong Kong being seen in mainland China … Developed by San Francisco-based start up Open Garden, FireChat features “mesh networking” that uses Bluetooth to send messages from smartphone to smartphone, leapfrogging over other FireChat users’ phones to extend the distances that chats can travel.”
http://on.ft.com/1qPuj69