Why I’m closing my WhatsApp Account
By: Aaron Tushabe
Tags: Signal App, Free Software Movement, Free Software Foundation, Community, WhatsApp

There’s a verse in the bible (Galations 5:1) about being set free to live free. Again, this seemed very obvious and something that need not be mentioned. Of course when one is set free ie given freedom (think about a slave being given back their freedom), then of course it’s it follows that they can now live (like a) free (person).

As I was watching what is definitely my favorite movie; Shawshank Redemption for what is probably the 20th time (this year alone), I got the same counter intuition. The struggles Brooks Hatlen (character in the movie) experiences after he is released from prison and given back his freedom seem at first very odd. He had been without freedom for so long that he did not remember how to live free. He wishes he could commit another crime so they can send him back to “what feels normal”, prison. And he eventually puts an end to the struggles by hanging himself. I latter learned that this “syndrome” is unfortunately common among those recently released from prison that they are often given additional support to help them learn to live free again. It still blows my mind that experiencing freedom is not as simple as liberty to chose anything and the “sacrifices” I often need to make to continue being free.

Free Software

Free software is a concept I did not learn about in school and it was not until 2 months ago via a sequence of unrelated events that I stumbled across the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and learned that it’s not at all about the price of the software. It’s also not entirely about the software being Open Source. The heart of the concept is that Free Software is software that respects 4 essential user freedoms.

- The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0). - The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this. - The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2). - The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

The founder of FSF has a good talk here and an a great article about what this means and it’s implications. Please check that out if you are new to this like me. But after learning about Free Software, I felt persuded to join the movement and so my journey begun. I become as a member of FSF and have been reading up regularly on how I can protect my own and others’ Software Freedom.

If you are learning about this wonderful concept and movement for the first time, I recommend you check out the FSF and consider being a member. They have a number of amazing free resources. I’d recommend you join me on the Freedom Ladder to help you navigate your own (software) freedom journey.

WhatsApp

This post was about why I am closing my WhatsApp account and I think by now, the primary reason should be obvious to the reader. I am looking to continue my freedom journey by using and supporting more free software alternatives so I am choosing to stop using WhatsApp and instead try to use a free alternative (like Signal) for services I’ve gotten from WhatsApp for the past 12 years or so.

I still use a lot of non-free software, software is so embedded in how we live today that I am probably not completely aware how much I rely on some non-free and some free software. I can’t really say that I will ever be rid of all non-free software in my life but I want to continue trying to adopt and contribute to software that respects my freedom and help others do the same.