Guest article #1: An Excerpt from 'How to Cypher Sex: A manual for collective digital self defense guides

Find the full text on https://cyphersex.org

Chapter 1: Why Self-Defense?

In most resources, guides and trainings, the tips and strategies used to protect ourselves from harm when using online tools and digital devices are usually presented using the terms “digital security” or “cybersecurity.” In this manual (and our previous guides), we prefer to focus on “self-defense” from a more self-empowered position rather than on the term “security.” For example, when we think about security we tend to think about something monolithic like a nuclear fallout bunker. While these shelters are certainly considered relatively safe in one of the worst scenarios imaginable, finding security in such a place means there is very little else you can do apart from passively hiding underground until the end of time. Additionally, from the surveillance of citizens in the name of “State security” and the violation of refugees rights in the name of “national security” to ”maximum security prisons” and ”security measures” used to restrict basic human rights for women and children, the word “security” has often been used to support policies that actually limit the freedom of migrants, minorities and even entire populations of totalitarian states.

When used in the digital sphere, the term “security” additionally usually refers to a top-down vision of protection from digital threats that are often based on mainstream perceptions rather than on facts. For example, consider how the 1983 movie *WarGames* led then-US President Ronald Reagan to sign The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984 whose interpretation would become so broad and vague that it would eventually turn online activism into a serious felony comparable to an armed attack.[27] As already discussed in the preface, we have more recently seen fighting the “sexual exploitation of children or sex trafficking” used to undermine net neutrality with FOSTA/SESTA, as well as a law package that the EU Commission is currently preparing, referred to as “chat control,” that would enable law enforcement access to all encrypted chat messages under the guise of fighting the “sexual abuse of children.”[28] However, these are just a few examples of how the internet has been demonized and “cybersecurity” has been used as an excuse to keep society under surveillance and control while undermining the usage of digital tools for social justice, individual liberation and free culture.

Without a deep reflection on these trends, often even technologists tend to apply the same top-down cybersecurity approach when using their skills to support grassroots movements and civil society. In the past few years, we have seen attempts at “teaching digital security” to activists and human rights defenders by training them on the use of “secure tools” without making sure that those tools actually matched their threat model with their needs and goals. In the end, this so-called “digital security” approach is counterproductive because tools that are secure but make life more difficult tend to be discarded in favor of less safe approaches that have proved to be good enough to reach a specific outcome. In other words, in emergency cases or when our stress level peaks, we tend to accept some risks as long as we can achieve what we need to overcome an acute crisis.

A Holistic Approach to Digital Self-Defense

Digital self-defense can only be effective if it has a holistic approach. Even when a threat is based exclusively in the physical or in the digital sphere, its ramifications always encompass all the contexts of our life; physical, psychosocial, digital and political. For example, intimate partner violence can extend from the physical to the digital level through spying apps or through surveillance over social media accounts while attacks started by mobs at the digital level can expand to the physical level through doxing and physical threats. Of course, violence of any kind always exposes survivors to trauma which can lead to further harm at the social and physical level; for example, due to bias against psychological issues or because of psychosomatic disorders.

A more empowering approach to protection starts with participatory threat modeling; a collective reflection of our fears including what is more or less likely to happen to us, who our adversaries and allies are, as well as how we can improve our practices to better protect ourselves, our activities and our peers. Fundamentally, we consider how to reach our practical goals and even to make some dreams come true. In this manual, we call this overall participatory approach “digital self-defense” and we use this term to talk about the practices of digital protection with the hope to encourage those interested in writing a digital self-defense guide to take control of their own digital safety. Through techniques aimed at assessing risks in online practices, the users of this manual will be able to reflect on their own needs and goals and thus be empowered to choose specific solutions for their own guides that can help them secure their current practices – instead of adapting their existing practices to new tools for the sake of a higher “security.”

We also see the word “self-defense” as fundamentally linked to feminist collective organizing; particularly in regards to sharing knowledge, skills and best practices. Feminists have historically used this term to talk about women’s right to protect themselves and to assert their rights and boundaries. However, in order to consider all the possible levels where harm can happen, self-defense also needs to adopt an intersectional approach that includes queer people, sex workers and other marginalized groups. In order to correctly assess and address the threats for a specific group or individual, we need to consider their social and political context and take into account the multiple systems of oppression and domination they are exposed to. Let’s not forget that online violence is just an extension of physical violence and can sadly amplify it even more. In short, we believe knowledge on how to protect ourselves from digital threats should be shared among the most vulnerable groups.

Finally, we look at self-defense from a harm reduction perspective. Especially when considering queer communities and sex workers, an approach to risk management should be non-judgmental. Some, many times less privileged, communities engage in activities that are considered “high risk” by mainstream society and a harm reduction approach focuses on limiting potential ensuing damages instead of denigrating those activities. In other words, we should respect an individual’s capacity to take a conscious risk when deciding to face less safe scenarios.

While we recognize the holistic dimension of self-defense, in this manual we focus on digital self-defense for sex workers. This is both because we have already been working with sex workers post-FOSTA/SESTA and because sex workers already turn to their own community networks to find efficient self-defense strategies on the physical and psychosocial levels.