Our view about Security
ShutDownDC is committed to building as welcoming and accessible a space as possible. But open spaces also carry risks. It is easy for anyone, including malicious actors, to come to a public action or join a public meeting. In fact, we expect that infiltrators attend our meetings. We believe that being open and transparent about our general plans is the right strategy for dealing with infiltrators. We aren’t hiding anything. That said, in your affinity groups you may want to take more precautions and keep tactical details to a small number of folks. But you should never assume that your plans could not become public.
A general rule of thumb is don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to read about in the Washington Post (or on Breitbart). So cavalier talk about “fucking shit up” is not helpful. But we don’t need to hide what we're doing. We are defending democracy and the planet against racism, fascism, and climate catastrophe. As we share in our organizing principles, we intend to use tactics and tools that can catalyze a mass mobilization and bring in new people. This necessitates a certain element of publicity to many of our calls and actions. However, as we'll outline below, publicity does not mean sharing every detail with every person. There are numerous ways to be strategic about your tactics and how you discuss them.
General tips
Here are some security tips you might want to consider to keep yourself safe:
If you don’t want your identity known don’t use your real name. Because of COVID, a lot of organizing is online. Remember you can change your Zoom name.
Generally avoid calling people by name, unless they have indicated that is ok (on Zoom, call people by whatever name they are using on the screen)
Be mindful what you talk about. There are likely pro-Trump “journalists” lurking in meetings to find things they can use against us. There is even a chance their findings might be used in court cases (as happened during the 2016 inauguration protests). In particular, be cautious around aggressive language or talk of property destruction. We don’t police each other, but caution is advised. Jokes and hypotheticals can easily be taken out of context.
There might be trolls online. In a Zoom meeting they are easy to remove. Let the host know if someone is doing something harassing or disruptive or is trying to provoke other participants.
We know racism, sexism, transphobia, islamophobia and many other systems of oppression run deep in our society. If something happens in a meeting that is oppressive, please let a host know and we will work together to respond and shift the dynamic.
Keep in mind that malicious actors often target people of color. All groupings within ShutDownDC should discuss how they will work together to keep people with marginalized identities as safe as possible.
At actions, try to arrive and leave with a group. Come with a buddy and/or an affinity group. Keep track of who you came with. If you have to leave, make sure you check in with your buddy/AG.
Affinity groups and higher levels of security
We can’t get all our organizing done in big open spaces. Working groups organize smaller meetings focused on more specific topics (such as outreach or training). For actions in November, we advise joining or forming affinity groups (AG’s). In these smaller groups that will go into more detail and possibly engage in higher risk actions, potential damage from infiltration is greater. To mitigate that damage, here are some things to consider.
Ask how open do you want your group to be? Are you dealing with sensitive information? Are you taking actions that require a lot of preparation and trust? There is a tradeoff between security and openness. For newly forming affinity groups openness makes more sense. Plan actions that feel right for the level of trust and preparedness of the group. Consider taking greater risks as the group becomes more established.
Do some background research on people who want to join. Look at their social media. What sorts of things do they post? See how long their history is. A short history does not mean they are an infiltrator, but it is one indication they may have created an identity. If someone has a long history of content that supports your cause, likely they are not an infiltrator.
You can consider requiring vouches from folks you trust. This will unfortunately close your group off to new activists who don’t have a history to vouch for. You can base your vouching system on whatever security level seems appropriate (one vouch, three vouches, no objections).
You can meet with people who want to join. It is good to build trust and get to know each other, both for security purposes and for group cohesion. This can be a one to one meeting or however you want to do it. Feel free to use this onboarding guide which will discuss more in depth how and why to meet with folks.
Some things to watch out for: In our experience, infiltrators are most often quiet and they look uncomfortable, like they don’t really want to be there and they aren’t really engaged in the content of the discussion. There are plenty of quiet people who aren’t infiltrators. But, if you see someone very quiet and uncomfortable who seems to want access to high risk tasks, perhaps you should be concerned. If that person has a short social media history or their posts don’t seem to support your cause, it is more suspicious. If they seem especially uncomfortable in a one to one conversation and their background story doesn’t make sense, it is very possible they are an infiltrator. We would also be suspicious of people who are very aggressive, people who don’t work well with others, and people who seem to be very flirtatious. It is a mistake to determine infiltration based on a single factor. Add up the whole picture in as un-paranoid a way as possible.
Also consider using higher security or encrypted platforms to discuss sensitive information and actions: Jitsi instead of Zoom, Protonmail instead of Gmail, Etherpad instead of Google Drive. But again, never assume that information that is secure will stay secure.