This document explains the protocols that all direct action participants must agree to and follow in order to participate and keep each other safe.
Every participant involved in a direct action has the power to make their fellow participants more safe or less safe--from arrest, prosecution, violence, reputational damage, and other harms. Many of these protocols are from lessons that have been learned "the hard way." It's not common, but people have been arrested. So, please take these protocols to heart, and follow them carefully.
Organizing
- Organizers of an action must designate a participant to be in charge of Operational Security (OpSec).
This person is responsible for reminding participants of the protocols in this document and ensuring that the protocols are understood and followed. (For example, checking that everyone has PIN lock enabled for their phones and that the message deletion timer is set correctly.) - Look out for each other.
We have each others' backs. - Organizers should estimate their actions as low/medium/high risk and inform participants.
Participants should know what they're getting into.- Low = Protest / slow ride
- Medium = Tactical urbanism on public property. Short traffic blocking.
- High = Anything involving private property, or tactical urbanism of unusually large scale or complexity. Long traffic blocking.
- Medium- and high-risk actions require scouts.
Scouts look out for cops or other threats and notify the group via Signal or other means. - The person in charge of OpSec is responsible for maintaining contact with the scouts.
Scouts aren't helpful if no one is checking their Signal messages during an action. If a scout says, "the cops are coming," the group should be made aware of that message immediately. There are often just a few seconds between us spotting the cops and the cops spotting us. - Don't increase the scope of an action in the middle of an action.
- Direct action should not be both experimental and ambitious.
If you're trying something new, do it at a small scale first. If you're doing something big and difficult, make sure it's a kind of action you've successfully done before. - Every participant has the right to remove themselves from an action for any reason.
- Every participant has the right and the obligation to propose that a group stop an action if the participant believes the risk has become too high.
If you think the group is at risk, say something. BUT, the whole group is not obligated to stop just because one person wants to stop. Make sure your concerns are heard broadly across the group and by the main organizers of an action. - For higher risk actions, protect your identity with face coverings and dark nondescript clothing.
- Phones are surveillance devices. For high risk actions, limit phone usage if possible although sometimes they may be necessary. Leaving your phone at home is best, and turning the phone off, turning off Location Services, or using airplane mode also reduces some exposure. Make sure phones are collected and held out of earshot when having important or detailed discussions.
Communications
In general, communication security is achieved through a large number of small, ephemeral Signal chats which reduce the risk of detection and leaks.
- All sensitive electronic communication must go through Signal.
When in doubt, assume the communication is sensitive. - Organization discussions should be in private Signal chats or in-person conversations.
The only exception is that initial recruiting for participants may be done in larger chats, but the conversation should be moved into private chats. - The organizer of an action should vet every person in an organizing chat.
This can be as simple as having done an action with them before or having another trusted person vouch for a person's reliability. Remember that the SSR main chat is non-secure and essentially public, given its size. - Communication during an action should be in a separate "day-of" chat with only physically-present individuals.
It's common for more people to join an action's organizing chat than those who show up in person on the day of. - Automatic message deletion is required and essential.
For organizing chats, messages should be deleted in 1 week or less. For "day-of" chats, the messages should be deleted in as short a time as possible, even 5 minutes or shorter if possible. - A PIN--not face ID or fingerprint--should be required to unlock your phone.
- Message previews on lock screen must be disabled for Signal messages.
- Documents should be written in Cryptpad.
Not Google Drive or similar. - Documents should never use people's real names without their explicit consent.
Publicity
- Never identify individuals without their explicit consent.
In general just avoid doing this at all unless there's a very good reason (e.g. news interview with consent of other members). - Higher risk actions should either not be publicized, or only publicized from main Twitter with permission of participants.
Handling Police
- Do not talk to cops.
No, really--do not talk to cops. See the ACLU guide. And this. And this. - If you are confronted by cops, you can say only these things:
- "Am I free to leave?" If the answer is yes, just leave. (Better yet, leave before you're confronted.)
- If you're detained, you can give your name if they ask for it.
- "I decline to answer questions without a lawyer." in response to any other questions.
- "I do not consent to a search." if they ask to search your belongings.
- If cops show up to an action (not including ordinary protests or gatherings), drop your tools immediately and leave.
It's better to replace some tools than to get arrested.