> How could side-loading be illegal? It's just software.

Lawmakers have no problem making software illegal [1].

> How would the state prevent vpns or tor users from connecting to Signal servers?

They don’t have to prevent a 100%. They may just decide to police and punish.

> More importantly, what if users just use pgp in emails, etc.?

The same stupid arguments about lawful access (=back doors) [2] come up again and again. But that does not ensure it won’t become law some day. If users continue to use secure tools above policing and punishing applies.

[1] https://edri.org/our-work/edrigramnumber5-11germany-bans-hac...

[2] https://www.justice.gov/olp/lawful-access

Point taken. But it is beyond me why anyone would let this type of law prevent them from encrypting their hard drives and messages.

I would gladly take on the state to fight for the right to encrypt, but I'm American so I do understand my culture significantly impacts that perspective.

It also depends on the penalties, doesn't it?

For example, in UK, you can be compelled to surrender your encryption keys to the court. Refusal to comply could result in a prison term of up to 5 years (if the government claims that child porn or "national security" is involved; 2 years otherwise). If you were given that choice, would you fight? Especially knowing that the courts have consistently favored the government on surveillance in the past?

Yes - I'm American. I would rather die in a gunfight against glowies than ever release my keys.

I understand that is not a widely held view.

> How could side-loading be illegal? It's just software.

A government could start by demanding that all smartphones sold in their territory disallow side-loading. That's obviously already the case for iPhones, and it would be a small "security update" to Android phones to prevent side-loading.

As apps can detect which firmware version your phone is running, and whether the phone has been rooted, it's possible for phones to send cryptographically secured attestations to a government server that it is compliant with this new rule. Mobile networks can then block the IMEI numbers of phones which have side-loaded apps, or at least limit them to only sending/receiving calls and texts.

That won't stop people using these chat services on laptops, for example, but within a few years it will be feasible to enforce a similar "trusted platform" condition on those too.

Furthermore, are we now banning decentralized chat networks, where everyone can host their own node, like Matrix?

It can't. It's as simple as that.

This is all just to catch people who don't know how the technology works.