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KA HackWkend There's currently a wave of bots trying to vandalize #OpenStreetMap by replacing names (and russian langauge names) with anti-russian slogans. The #OSM DWG has blocked 5,000+ accounts already
This is not the way people!
e.g. <https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/how-about-limit-new-accounts/101656/49>
#Ukraine #Russia #RussianInvasion
@amapanda While I don’t endorse these actions, they bring awareness. While everyone/most people in the western world know about the atrocities committed by Russia, the Russians and the Belorussians don’t, and every little thing that could deliver the real story to them is worth trying. The #OSM, I guess has backups and could be restored, people’s lives can’t.
@Siff @amapanda imo it’s kinda like the protestors that threw soup on a Van Gogh to protest climate change. It’s good that they’re trying to do something about a real problem but doing it this way accomplishes nothing.
I don’t like the idea of condemning people just because of how they protest but these actions deserve harsh criticism. It doesn’t really help anyone, hurts bystanders, and wastes time of people who volunteer their time to maintain free and open resources. These volunteers are going to fix this vandalism as quickly as they can, minimizing the potential positive impact this protest might have.
But yeah, at the end of the day it’s just petty vandalism of a map and real people are actively dying in an unjustified war.
@merpthebirb @amapanda Damaging priceless piece of art is vandalism; messing up with street names, which can be restored from a backup is not. Wrong comparison.
To be clear: I don’t think that this was the correct thing to do and I sympathize with the volunteers that have to fix it! I provided a point of view. And another: messing street names of the country you are at war with is nothing compared with having your streets and houses bombed and your people killed!