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Sorry, judges, encrypted chat is not like a private thought

Engadget: “A state judge recently ruled that two of the men who plotted to kidnap Michigan’s governor did not make terrorist threats because they used an encrypted chat app to do so. Since federal agencies and lawmakers have been trying to get encrypted comms backdoored by arguing that they are the tool of choice for terrorists, we won’t blame you if your double-take gave you whiplash. It already boggles the mind to see a terrorism charge dropped against people doing domestic terrorism things, like plan and coordinate to attack the Capitol, blow up a bridge to stop police, murder law enforcement that got in the way to kidnap a US state governor, and murder said governor. But hang on. Just try not to strain anything when we tell you that the judge’s reason not to charge the foiled kidnappers for “threatening an act of terrorism” is because 12th District Court Judge Michael Klaeren said that using encrypted comms is the same as having private thoughts. “After onboarding new members through mediums such as Facebook, the group’s conversations took place in encrypted chats,” reported The Detroit News…”

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