[liberationtech] Liberation Tech would like a word.

[Julian Oliver]

Kia ora koutou katoa,

I'm liking the new energy and framing!

I'm Julian Oliver, an artist, infrastructure activist and Critical Engineer
[1] recently returned to my home country of Aotearoa New Zealand after having
lived abroad for a couple of decades.

I'm generally between three worlds, my techno-political art practice [2],
on-the-ground rainforest conservation and my ongoing support of at risk
individuals and groups. This latter work is done in the form of deploying
server infrastructure, alongside any needed operations and information
security support.  Particular focus has been on protecting environmental and
human rights defenders from the surveillance of corporations and statecraft. 

After many years of such efforts my partner and I formalised our work into
Nīkau [3], a consultancy channeling our experience and skillsets. Tens of
thousands of activists worldwide have used secure infrastructure deployed by
us, some of which are active in very hostile operating conditions indeed. We
have also worked with large NGOs in a security auditing capacity. Movements,
too - Extinction Rebellion is one of the movements my partner and I supported
from the outset, getting them up and running on carefully secured server
infrastructure, running on renewable energy. Free and open source platforms
spanning all aspects of activist work were deployed. 

The past year has seen a rapid rise in requests for operational security from
frontliners in life-threatening operational contexts in LATAM and African
countries. Here, helping the at risk develop best practice information
security habits has been mission critical, communicated across language and
literacy divides.

What keeps me up? A few things. The increasing loss of techno-political agency
and literacy; the rise and subsequent normalisation of Extreme Right agendas
and their projects; the bacterial creep of socio-technical disinformation
machinery; the increasing criminalisation of the fundamental right to
non-violent protest; the traversal of planetary boundaries, its impact on
present and future generations of all life.

Ngā mihi maioha,

Julian

[1] https://criticalengineering.org
[2] https://julianoliver.com
[3] https://nikau.io

..on Sun, Apr 21, 2024 at 09:43:07PM -0400, Kate Krauss wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> 
> We’re writing about the future of the Liberation Tech list.
> 
> At its best, it’s been a forum where very smart people of many kinds have
> discussed digital rights, hacktivism, online privacy tools, the future of
> FISA, how to circumvent national internet shutdowns, and a myriad of other
> topics.
> 
> 
> Current subscribers include policy wonks, artists, CTOs, cypherpunks,
> reporters, government officials, bloggers from the Middle East, China
> experts, and at least one former rock star.
> 
> 
> In recent years, participation has dwindled.
> 
> 
> We want to bring it back.
> 
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> As before, we think the list should be grounded in democracy, freedom, and
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> for thoughtful conversation for people from across the tech ecosystem.
> 
> 
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> 
> Consider re-engaging with this list--post, comment. What are you
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> 
> 
> We’re also recruiting new subscribers who are creative, smart, technical
> (or non-technical) and affable, so please spread the word.
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> We're re-launching the list starting now.
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> To subscribe: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/lt
> 
> 
> Your in liberation,
> 
> 
> Kate Krauss
> 
> Digital rights advocate
> 
> 
> Yosem Companys, PhD
> 
> Stanford Researcher

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