By Susie Violet Ward · Forbes · 4 June 2026
The article looks at tools including facial recognition, mandatory digital ID, debanking and internet shutdowns, and how people are trying to work around them. Togolese activist Farida Nabourema describes protests during which the authorities cut the internet, phone networks and electricity, and explains why she values Bitchat, which passes messages between nearby phones over Bluetooth without internet access or central servers.
The article also covers Citizen Lab’s research into spyware such as Pegasus, the Cashu ecash project developed by the programmer known as Calle, and Agora, a peer-to-peer donation protocol that Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López describes as “GoFundMe without borders.” Anna Chekhovich of Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation explains how the Russian state uses the banking system against donors and activists, and why people using these tools also need practical training in using bitcoin safely.