Don't wear a mask. Social change is about many caring people coming together to support a worthy cause. Solidarity and visibility are key. The women's rights movement was not organized by cryptographers. Social change does not come from the shadows. Spend your time on simple basic things that support solidarity. Discord, web-pages, Whats App... use it all!
Model you tactics on successful campaigns and people. What does the ACLU use? How about Amnesty International?
Don't bring your phone to protests. If you do, turn off all radios (airplane mode + WiFi off + Bluetooth off) and do not use Google or Apple Maps to find your way there. (Use an offline mapping app like OsmAnd if you need to.) Enable lockdown mode on your phone (= no biometric activation).
I would personally not use Discord for activist coordination. All your communications are stored on their servers.
> What habits are useful to practice and what tools are useful to use to facilitate communication without getting nonviolent, peaceful, legal protesters in trouble just because they are trying to organize to express dissent?
I guess the first question is in trouble with who? For the longest time I worked at a place that pressured employees to avoid getting involved in politics which turned out to just be patently false and was only ever used to squash one side of the argument. So, in that case, I just didn't post things where my employer might run across them, which doesn't take very advanced technology.
If you're trying to protect yourself from a government, you're going to probably have a bit more work ahead of you.
Nice to find you again! I miss your comments with a lot of relevant citations.
> What habits are useful to practice and what tools are useful to use to facilitate communication without getting nonviolent, peaceful, legal protesters in trouble just because they are trying to organize to express dissent?
I'll repeat my old recommendation: Assume three letters agencies can read all your communication anyway. Beware of the guy that wants to escalate and blow up everything, he is probably an informant (or an idiot).
I vaguely recall Naomi Wu writing insightfully on the subject in the past. Maybe in relation to BLM protest security?
Some suggestions
Privacy Guides home:
https://www.privacyguides.org/en/
The Protesters' Guide to Smartphone Security
https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/01/23/activists-...
Infosec 101 for Activists
https://infosecforactivists.org/
Using Tails When Your World Doesn't Feel Safe Anymore
https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/01/29/installing...
How Iām Building a Trump-Proof Tech Stack Without Big Tech
https://www.joanwestenberg.com/american-tech-is-compromised-...
EFF guides: I don't have the URL's handy
See also:
For out of band communication Meshtastic devices might be a good option
https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/01/23/activists-...
Is a start.
It gets complicated because we are getting to the point where using signal is itself being seen as probably cause for investigation: https://kmlawfirm.com/2023/02/28/its-not-what-you-say-its-ho... so I encourage everybody who doesn't need such security to use signal anyways, if only to add protection to the vulnerable.
Pay attention when you scan signal QR codes: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/rus...