We are living in a digital age where anti-democratic leaders have leveraged technology to perpetuate and enact state violence and encroach on our freedoms. During this webinar, we will explore how we can ground ourselves in abolitionist praxis as the digital world continues to evolve and as online threats to social justice activism and organizing increase. A volatile election season is upon us, making it all the more important for our communities and allies to know how to better protect themselves online. While our ever evolving digital landscape and international access to social media platforms can empower progressive activists like ourselves to organize, they also aid in the spread of misinformation—which poses an increasing risk to democracy and equity. Disenfranchised groups are disproportionately impacted by digital security threats, making digital violence a threat to civil rights. In this webinar, we will discuss the current landscape of digitals security risks as well as practical tips and resources our community members can use to protect themselves from digital harm. We will also define abolition and its relation to digital security frameworks in today’s movement spaces and educational institutions.

About the panelists:

Alison Macrina: Alison Macrina is an activist librarian and the director of Library Freedom Project. Alison started LFP in 2015 to organize and build community with other librarians who are dedicated to library values of privacy, intellectual freedom, social responsibility, and the public good.

Praveen Sinha: Praveen is an activist and engineer who believes technology should always be a force for the people. He is a security director and loves helping people get through tough situations.

Sammy John: Sammy is an open-source intelligence researcher whose work involves gathering broad landscapes around digital threat monitoring. Sammy is an advocate for digital resilience and enjoys helping movement-aligned organizations protect their rights in the digital age.

Some key questions we will address include:

• What is abolition and how does it relate to our work? How does it apply to digital security frameworks?
• How might abolitionist praxis facilitate freedom and safety in our digital security strategies?
• Why might certain individuals be targeted online and what is the current landscape of digital attacks against activists?
• What is the current digital security landscape looking like for movement organizations?
• How can students protect themselves, their spaces, and their advocacy on campus?
• What is the influence or impact of tech on politics?
• How can we identify misinformation and what can we do about it?
• What practical tips can you provide people (but especially BIPOC activists) to safeguard their identities and personal information online?