By Susie Violet Ward · Forbes · 9 June 2024
The 16th Oslo Freedom Forum, run by the Human Rights Foundation, took “Re-claim Democracy” as its theme and brought together activists to discuss rising authoritarianism and how bitcoin can support people opposing oppressive regimes. HRF began working with bitcoin in 2014 and has since funded projects that build tools for activists and teach them to use bitcoin securely.
Hadiya Masieh of The Groundswell Project described working with women in minority communities to build financial independence and counter radicalisation. Farida Nabourema, co-founder of the Africa Bitcoin Conference and an activist from Togo, said Africa has the fastest adoption rate in the world. Alex Gladstein of HRF explained how bitcoin lets activists receive donations without government interference, Faisal Al Mutar of Ideas Beyond Borders discussed using it to support education in the Middle East, and Jack Dorsey spoke about solving discovery in an open-source way.