Jo :v_enby: :blobhaj_default:​ :neocat: (@ShadowJonathan@tech.lgbt)
tech.lgbt
Content warning: the CCP has made software to scrape specific mastodon accounts

le EVIL SEESEEPEE is SPYING on QUEER USERS

i have a feeling it might be an extension of their state surveillance system!!!!!!!!!!!

original posts:

the CCP has made software to scrape specific mastodon accounts

original link: https://tech.lgbt/@ShadowJonathan/111840265157264311

archived: https://archive.is/BMbc2

Okay, just to be clear;

Tencent/Alibaba/the CCP/whatever has specific software targeted at scraping mastodon servers, by hitting the unauthenticated "list posts from user" API endpoint, with specific account IDs, that they must've determined to be interesting from some moment or another.

The only way to get those account IDs is to ask the server to resolve them, thats already a step further than a normal scraping bot.

What's more, the IPs and user agents (basically, text which tells what browser you have) all ONLY hit this specific endpoint, meaning this is a targeted, predetermined, scraping operation.

By looking up the account IDs from the last dozen or so attempts that i see here in my logs, almost each of them are some colorful flavour of trans, gay, or enby.

They are specifically targeting us queer folks with this scraping.

tencent is scraping fedi posts

orignal post: https://tech.lgbt/@ShadowJonathan/111839244695370421

archived: https://archive.is/80RLB

yeah okay no

PSA for all fedi admins; block "QQDownload" as a user agent

(edit: this wont work for everything, see my replies for ip ranges)

its specifically scraping statuses from accounts with pre-scraped account IDs, meaning they know what they're downloading

i have no idea what its about, one site says that its a p2p download manager, and another says its related to QQ, an instant messenger service from tencent

i have a feeling it might be an extension of their state surveillance system

edit: grepping logs further, it doesn't seem like all of them have "QQDownload" in it, so also block "TencentTraveler" from accessing apis unauthenticated

edit 2: urgh... it seems that the user agents are not consistent, and it seems that a geoip database also wont really help, since some of them come from singapore, from alibaba cloud...

edit 3: im just gonna wack-a-mole it, ive set up something for our server to see these requests and for me to manually add IP ranges to ban

confused by what this means? some scary chinese person is scraping allegedly mostly queer mastodon accounts. the chinese government (scary) is right and your doorstep and is going to eat your kids.

bonus copypasta spam: https://insufferable.tools/objects/0c0da53f-05ec-4db4-9af2-a25915f3a8e1

  • Red Wizard 🪄@lemmygrad.ml
    ·
    9 months ago

    Okay, just to be clear;

    Tencent/Alibaba/the CCP/whatever

    This is not clear.

    Edit: OOOh lol, I see, if you geolocate the IP address in the logs its ISP is “Alibaba Cloud (Singapore) Private Limited” and the location is “Singapore”.

    I hope they understand that, anyone could just sign up for an Alibaba Cloud account. They provide services in English. I'm sure you can just set the VPS's region too if you wanted.

    • PorkrollPosadist [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      9 months ago

      I've looked into registering a mainland China VPS as an American and it is not a strait-forward thing to do. Most of these are in Hong Kong or Taiwan (or outside the country entirely, as in this case.)

  • DirtyPair [they/them]
    ·
    9 months ago

    bonus context: some white tech bro makes a fediverse scraper every other week and people only get moderately annoyed. Chinese IP address? World. War. Three.

  • combat_brandonism [they/them]
    ·
    9 months ago

    By looking up the account IDs from the last dozen or so attempts that i see here in my logs, almost each of them are some colorful flavour of trans, gay, or enby.

    They are specifically targeting us queer folks with this scraping.

    users of tech dot lgbt are disproportionately lgbt. more at 11.

    also haven't they been defedded for racism or something?

    • PorkrollPosadist [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      9 months ago

      also haven't they been defedded for racism or something?

      I'm not neck-deep in the controversy, but I believe this is mastodon.art. It's run by a Welsh lady who practices typical lib "inclusivity" with the typical lib shortcomings of perceiving any attack on liberalism as an attack on social justice. A developer of Fire fish accused her of sending transphobic DMs on Discord but there's no way to prove either side of the story.

      I haven't encountered any deep controversy about tech.lgbt in particular, but I imagine it trends labor-aristocrat while also representing an oppressed minority.

    • DirtyPair [they/them]
      ·
      9 months ago

      tech.lgbt was defedded by transphobes for "racism" so take that with a grain of salt.

      • combat_brandonism [they/them]
        ·
        9 months ago

        ah fair. it's a pretty lib place so I just figured there was merit and didn't dig too much further.

  • Yurt_Owl
    ·
    9 months ago

    Libs will worry more about a fictional enemy they made up in their heads than the actual fascists on their fucking doorstep. Where do I obtain such an disgusting level of cognitive dissonance?

      • VOLCEL_POLICE [it/its]B
        ·
        9 months ago

        Show

        The VOLCEL POLICE are on the scene! PLEASE KEEP YOUR VITAL ESSENCES TO YOURSELVES AT ALL TIMES.

        نحن شرطة VolCel.بناءا على تعليمات الهيئة لترويج لألعاب الفيديو و النهي عن الجنس نرجوا الإبتعاد عن أي أفكار جنسية و الحفاظ على حيواناتكم المنويَّة حتى يوم الحساب. اتقوا الله، إنك لا تراه لكنه يراك.

        volcel-police