Tools Archives | Beatrice Martini

Anti-surveillance and anti-censorship projects to support and donate to

Browsing the internet, sending an email, texting, making a call, reading the news – these are actions that many people around the world want and need to do every day. Depending on the society we live in, and what our demographics represent to the entities exercising legislative or economical power on it, these tasks can seem mundane, be potentially harmful, or made impossible.

screen-shot-2016-11-15-at-12-46-00 Protesters documenting a #BlackLivesMatter demonstration. From How women are leading the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Text and picture by Jihan Hafiz. Aljazeera America.

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Targeted surveillance, overpolicing and technology for resistance

On the upgrades of centuries-old systems of oppression and present-day tools to fight back

Yemeni women during a rally commemorating the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. Taez, February 2016. AFP / Ahmad Al-Basha.

Globally, law enforcement agencies are adopting increasingly sophisticated surveillance technologies to employ predictive policing and monitor already overpoliced communities and demographics. Prevalent grounds for discriminatory conduct are race, class, citizenship, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation.

We hear from the news about phone interceptions, seized devices, hacked accounts. But most often, the civil society is provided with small to no information about how far these monitoring activities go.

How is technology employed to control targeted groups? And how can technology support who’s controlled to reclaim and protect their rights?

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Digital civil disobedience: tactics, tools and future threads

Protests, uprising and unrest are key elements of freedom of expression, contributing to the shape of society and public debate through history.
Over the centuries, individuals and groups have adopted countless tactics to reclaim rights and fight for justice – changing over time, transforming strategically according to different historical and political contexts.

What’s the current state of the art? Which are the tools adopted by protesters to raise awareness, unrest and mobilise?
Technology has entered the the world of activism, and we can recognise forms of protests which combine offline and online elements, as well as expressions of dissent which exclusively operate in the digital space.
This article aims to provide an overview of how digital civil disobedience looks like today, observe which tactics are in use and consider a possible path to develop the future tools which will help global citizens reclaim their rights.

Civil disobedience tends to be taken on by the few. But it creates an environment where broader grass roots social movements can thrive.

— Gabriella Coleman (@BiellaColeman) May 24, 2015

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An intersectional take on technology, rights and justice

There’s a word – which is an entire multi-faceted concept in itself – which comes to my mind very often, whether I’m reading the news, working, talking with loved ones or following someone’s train of thoughts online.

Intersectionality.

The concept it expresses has always been at the core of my perspective of the world and of my work, exploring how technology can most effectively serve justice and rights.

So I decided to write about it, as it might turn out to be useful for others as well – next time you’re scraping data to investigate the patterns behind an issue, supporting a group in building their advocacy strategy, or making up your own mind before going to the polls.

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Working with marginalised communities on using data and technology in advocacy

by Maya Ganesh, Dirk Slater and Beatrice Martini.

“You are welcome anytime, you’re not like others who come with their own bag of potatoes”

It’s with these words that the chair of Women’s Network for Unity (WNU), a sex worker collective based in Phnom Penh, thanked Maya Ganesh and Dirk Slater from Tactical Technology Collective for approaching the work with them with no assumptions or preconceived agenda, but eager to listen and develop their collaboration together.

Mutual trust and respect, real commitment to collaboration and flexibility are all essential elements to be responsibly equipped to work with a marginalised community. And they are not even enough. That’s why, together with Maya and Dirk, we decided to write about the experience as potato-less tech capacity builders, as we think it could greatly help other practitioners planning to collaborate with groups struggling to get their rights honoured and their voices heard.

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Nepal earthquake emergency: why digital humanitarian response matters and how you can help

Nepal Earthquake 2015. Overview of tasks and imagery coverage (screenshot taken on April 28, 5pm CEST). Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team.

The government of Nepal has declared a state of emergency after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country on April 25, killing more than 3,800 people (figure at the time of writing).

Material and logistic assistance is now required to help thousands of people in need, and that’s when humanitarian response comes into play.
Humanitarian response can take different shapes and come from a range of organisations and actors, including governments, the United Nations system, international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement, specialists such as search-and-rescue operations – and digital humanitarians.

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Podcasting for change: a curated list

Maria Hinojosa interviewing Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for Latino USA. Picture by Christopher Soto-Chimelis.

Podcasting can be a powerful tool to reclaim representation of realities and issues and fight for justice and rights.
More about this can be read in my previous post entitled Easier, cheaper, louder: the growing power of podcasting, which explored what podcasting is today and why it matters in our effort to create a more democratic and inclusive media space.
The article featured some podcasts as tangible examples of the core topics the text was focusing on (media democratisation, representation and accessibility). But for brevity’s sake they were just a few – and there’s so much more on air.
For this reason, to answer all readers who asked for more podcast recommendations and to celebrate and share the work of many brilliant podcasters, I compiled a curated list of podcasts I listen to, love, recommend and often refer to.

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Easier, cheaper, louder: the growing power of podcasting

Women of the Radio Listening Clubs in Seke Zimbabwe, by Calvin Dondo (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Having the freedom to talk about our experiences, opinions and struggles is extremely powerful. Our voices and stories are heard and shared. We can create alliances, communities and movements, support and strengthen each other, reclaim and protect our spaces and rights.

Knowing the media we can use to express ourselves independently, with no filters or need for permissions, is key to our freedom of expression, and technology provides tools which are becoming cheaper and easier to access everyday, such as blogs, videos and podcasts.

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