France is Chasing Them Out – Graphene OS

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This video from LMG Clips discusses the announcement by GrapheneOS that they are moving their operations and development out of France, citing concerns over “state actions” and a need to protect the project and its users.

The controversy began with an inquiry from a French newspaper regarding the use of GrapheneOS by drug traffickers and criminals, which later became an issue involving the French state.

Key Points of the Situation:

• GrapheneOS’s Position: The developers stated they were threatened to cooperate and that authorities were spreading “entirely false notions of who we are and what we build.” They argue their open-source operating system is a tool for anyone who cares about their privacy, not just criminals.
• Media Claims: The articles allegedly quoting law enforcement contained several inaccuracies, such as claiming GrapheneOS is distributed through “dealers in dark alleys and the dark web” (which the host calls 100% false) and that it allows data to be erased using a fake Snapchat page.
• Technical Refutation: GrapheneOS noted that the government’s claims show a misunderstanding of open-source software and the features of the OS. They believe they are being confused with third-party companies that install and sell forks of the OS. The feature to wipe a phone’s data when investigators try to access it is actually a common feature on many modern phones, not just GrapheneOS.
• The Move: As a precaution, GrapheneOS is severing ties with French cloud computing provider OVH, fearing the provider could be forced to comply with French law enforcement. The project is consolidating its services from OVH facilities worldwide and plans to eventually move its server infrastructure to its own co-located servers in Toronto, Canada.

The video concludes that GrapheneOS no longer considers France a safe country for their project and is proactively relocating to a more secure jurisdiction.

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