HACKER Q&A
📣 freakynit

Using GitHub as a censorship resitant social media network?


Using GitHub as a censorship resitant social media network?


  👤 r_sz Accepted Answer ✓
Sorry fort the noob question, but I don't understand something:

> Each channel is a GitHub issue inside a repository.

> Repos are easily clonable (git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git), meaning anyone can create a local copy of all content.

Is the issue trackers content accessible somehow through the git repository? I thought only the code is checked in to git.


👤 hn_acker
Censorship resistant (maybe?) with the DMCA as a really large caveat? The RIAA managed to get Github to (temporarily) take down the youtube-dl repository [1].

The DMCA frequently gets abused to take down criticism [2] and cripple business competitors [3].

[1] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/github-reinstates-yout...

[2] https://www.techdirt.com/2024/12/04/square-enix-appears-to-b...

[3] https://www.techdirt.com/2024/10/11/vietnamese-duo-hit-with-...


👤 wiether
It seems to rely exclusively on GitHub's issues.

Which is not a standard, that's just how GitHub implemented their own ticketing system; a lightweight Jira.

Therefore it's not part of the repository itself. If you clone/fork the repository, you don't get the issues with it.

The link only exists in GitHub's database.


👤 akagusu
Is this serious?

How using a service provided by a for profit company that must comply with the law and must shutdown a repository by court order is censorship resistant?