this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2024
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[–] thejml@lemm.ee 60 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Or he won’t because this is an old story that already has an acquittal: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68099669

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 43 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Are chats on snapchat public? Because if not, this is just an admission of automatically scanning and evaluating all communications on the app no?

[–] Zorque@kbin.social 37 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It was not immediately clear how UK authorities were alerted to the message, with the judge noting "they were not the subject of evidence in this trial".

A literal "We're not the ones on trial here!" Holy shit.

[–] slacktoid@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago

Its the UK they invented that phrase.

[–] 0xD 24 points 2 years ago

Snapchat is not end-to-end encrypted, so they saw the message and notified the authorities. So yes, exactly.

"Intercepted while the plane was over England through unknown reasons" my ass lmao.

[–] Evia@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

That was a big question during the trial, too

[–] Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Uh Snapchat already does that. Nothing about it is encrypted. And deleted messages are only deleted from your device, not snapchats servers.

[–] coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Serious question: what would these fighter planes actually do in such situation?

[–] Aidinthel@reddthat.com 12 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I guess they could shoot the airliner down if it starts flying toward any towers.

[–] bisby@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago (2 children)

But that wasnt the threat. They were going to stop him from blowing up the plane by.... blowing up the plane.

[–] jaykay@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 years ago

There is a difference between the plane being blown up over London, or shot down over farm fields

[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

In theory, the threat could have just been a bluff to gain control of the plane.

[–] bisby@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

bluffing a threat to the plane by snapchatting your friend would be a weird move. No one on the plane even knew a "threat" was made.

It seems like "we have no details at all about the threat (because it wasn't actually credible), so let's just be prepared for every situation" is the logic.

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

Yup, some higher up will make the call to shoot it down before more damage can be made.

[–] Chozo@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago

They'd get a really big megaphone and tell the pilot "Pull over!"

jk, they'll just fire a Sidewinder missile at it if it deviates from its flight path.

[–] Trollception@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Guessing it gives them information on what is actually happening on the plane. If the pilots were being held against their will they could be following orders from a hijacker.

[–] coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Sounds logical.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 10 points 2 years ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


An airline passenger who prompted the Spanish air force to scramble fighter jets after he said he was going to blow up the plane he was on appeared Monday in court, the BBC reported.

Aditya Verma was 18 when he and his friends traveled with easyJet from London Gatwick Airport to the Spanish island of Menorca in July 2022.

The BBC reported that before departing, he told a friend on Snapchat: "On my way to blow up the plane (I'm a member of the Taliban)."

Security services saw the message and flagged it to Spanish authorities, who sent two F-18 jets to follow the airliner until it landed, per the BBC.

According to The Telegraph, Verma told the court he first thought the jets were flanking the plane as part of a military exercise related to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Verma's lawyer told the court it was a "bad joke" but emphasized it was one made in private with friends.


The original article contains 281 words, the summary contains 159 words. Saved 43%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] bartolomeo@suppo.fi 3 points 2 years ago

How did they know the message came from him? Profile pic? Seems pretty work intensive (if it's even possible) to connect a UUID to an IP address and search everyone's phone for their UUID.