Mechanism Type 5: Movement Safety and Collective Security

Civil society groups, especially those working in hostile environments, face increasing levels of digital harassment, surveillance and coordinated attacks. Movement safety and collective security refers to infrastructure and tooling that helps organisations protect themselves, share threat information and respond to incidents together rather than in isolation.

One important area is shared threat reporting. Platforms like Umbrella (from Security First, https://securityfirst.org) provide practical, scenario-based guidance for frontline defenders. Regional groups, such as SMEX in Lebanon (https://smex.org), maintain incident trackers and rapid response networks that help local organisations document attacks, phishing campaigns and account takeovers.

There is also a growing use of secure communication systems that allow organisations to coordinate without relying on mainstream messaging platforms. The Cwtch project (https://cwtch.im) operates peer to peer encrypted group communication that does not require central servers. Some movements use Matrix with independently hosted servers to reduce risks associated with commercial providers.
Link: https://matrix.org

Tools for anti doxxing and identity protection are also evolving. Scrutineer and Redact help people remove exposed personal information from the open web.
Links: https://scrutineer.dev and https://redact.dev

Projects like Block Party (https://www.blockpartyapp.com) provide filtering and safety controls for social media harassment, although availability varies by region.

There is also work happening in shared security coordination. Groups within the Internet Freedom Festival community, the Access Now Helpline (https://www.accessnow.org/help) and regional digital rights networks in East Africa and Latin America have built rapid support channels for emergencies such as hacked accounts, device seizure or targeted malware. These networks operate as informal infrastructure, but they are critical when conventional support channels are inadequate.

Movement safety infrastructure remains uneven and under resourced, yet it addresses a fundamental need. Civil society cannot rely on commercial platforms to provide adequate protection, and many of the threats organisations face are coordinated across borders. Shared tools and networks give groups a way to respond collectively, distribute the burden of defence and avoid becoming isolated targets.