Adding my colleagues _at_Kojo Boakye<mailto:kojoboakye_at_fb.com> and _at_Nomonde Gongxeka-Seopa<mailto:gongxekaseopa_at_fb.com> who I believe have already been in touch with you and addressed this.
They are best placed to pick this up with you.
Many thanks
Kezia
From: chittesh <chittesh_at_lsl.digital>
Date: Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 6:12 PM
To: Ebele Okobi <ebeleokobi_at_fb.com>, "okobi_at_yahoo.com" <okobi_at_yahoo.com>, Kezia Anim-Addo <keziaanim_at_fb.com>, "johnpinette_at_facebook.com" <johnpinette_at_facebook.com>, "johnpinette_at_fb.com" <johnpinette_at_fb.com>
Cc: "mauritius-internet-users_at_lists.elandnews.com" <mauritius-internet-users_at_lists.elandnews.com>, "discuss_at_discuss.lugm.org" <discuss_at_discuss.lugm.org>
Subject: Mauritius Island MitM HTTPS certificate affecting Facebook Services
Dear All,
I hope this email finds you well.
Dear Ms./Mrs Anim-Addo and Ms./Mrs Okobi,
I hope, as the esteemed Facebook representatives of the Sub Saharan region, you have been notified of/ monitoring the current political climate regarding the MITM proxy tool that the Mauritian Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) is trying to setup which would primary affect Facebook's products/services.
In case you might not have been paying attention to this small African country, please allow me to give a brief summary;
On 14th April 21, ICTA has published a consultation paper proposing a vaguely elaborated implementation that addresses the abuse and misuse of social media platforms with a MITM style proxy toolkit [1]. This type of censorship has provoked both an outcry from both local and reputable international organizations such as (Google, Mozilla, Access Now, EFF among others) [2]. You may find an extensive timeline on the matter _at_
https://www.lexpress.mu/article/393316/consultation-paper-icta-rappel-protestations<
https://www.lexpress.mu/article/393316/consultation-paper-icta-rappel-protestations>
However, we have received zero response from Facebook regarding this matter.
It is important that Facebook comment non-evasively on this matter as not only it affects the Mauritian population and ICTA but also our regional Sub Saharan Economy as many international investors look to Mauritius as an economic hub to investing in Africa.
Continuing:
ICTA published a video and justifying their MITM implementation based on what Mr. Zuckerberg said (see [3] for video and translation). We don't know to what extend that is true in application to this current situation, we have also noted that in the "Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking" posted by Facebook which highlighted its belief "..future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure..." [4]
Does Facebook value providing a secured encrypted services or feels indifferent to authorities breaking this internet chain of trust between Facebook and its users?
As your clients, we are also perplexed that if such amendments are approved and god-forbid there's a data leak, which institution would take responsibility ?
ICTA, the population of Mauritius and all the Sub Saharan countries (some of which who might also be considering the same censorship tactics) are looking forward to your email.
Thanks.
Best Regards,
Chittesh Sham,
System's Engineer (La Sentinelle Publications Mauritius),
P.R.O Linux User Group of Mauritius,
Member of Mauritius Internet Users,
Current President of MMR.
[1] Section 11.2.1 of
https://www.icta.mu/docs/2021/Social_Media_Public_Consultation.pdf<
https://www.icta.mu/docs/2021/Social_Media_Public_Consultation.pdf>
[2]
https://www.accessnow.org/mauritius-dangerous-ict-act-place-human-rights-at-its-core/ <
https://www.accessnow.org/mauritius-dangerous-ict-act-place-human-rights-at-its-core/>
https://blog.mozilla.org/netpolicy/files/2021/05/Mozillas-Response-to-the-Mauritian-ICT-Authoritys-Consultation.pdf<
https://blog.mozilla.org/netpolicy/files/2021/05/Mozillas-Response-to-the-Mauritian-ICT-Authoritys-Consultation.pdf>
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/04/proposed-new-internet-law-mauritius-raises-serious-human-rights-concerns <
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/04/proposed-new-internet-law-mauritius-raises-serious-human-rights-concerns>
[3] _at_2:30 https://player.vimeo.com/video/546487190<https://player.vimeo.com/video/546487190>
translation:
[Creole] "Dayer CEO Facebook li mem finn dir ki sak gouvernma bizin pran so bann mezir pou kontrol bann post abizif lor facebook"
[English] "Anyways even the CEO of Facebook said himself that governments should take the necessary measures to control abusive posts on facebook"
[4]
https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/6/18253472/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-letter-privacy-encrypted-messaging<
https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/6/18253472/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-letter-privacy-encrypted-messaging>
Received on Fri May 21 2021 - 09:26:44 PST