DWeb Meetup — Decentralized Tech to Resist Authoritarianism

DWeb connects the people, projects and protocols essential to building a decentralized web. A web that is more private, reliable, secure and open. A web with many winners—returning to the original vision of the World Wide Web and internet.

DWeb

Join us for a virtual meetup on decentralized technologies that enable communities to self-organize for mutualistic, peer-to-peer power.

DESCRIPTIONJuly 2025 DWeb Virtual Meetup: Distributed Tech to Resist AuthoritarianismNetwork technologies have always held the potential to support and sustain grassroots power. At a time when authoritarianism is taking hold of governments across the world, there’s an urgent need to propagate tools for people to communicate and organize with each other. Today more than ever, it’s critical that the technologies we use are private, secure, and resilient.Distributed, peer-to-peer approaches are key to providing the kinds of solutions communities need — technologies that give us agency over how we connect, and decide where and how our data is stored.What DWeb technologies exist today that people can use to self-organize through mutualistic, peer-to-peer power?Join us at our next virtual meetup on July 30 at 10am PT and come hear about the tools and approaches people are using to resist authoritarianism. We’ll demonstrate tools in use today around the world that combat censorship, promote privacy, and strengthen p2p movements.Following the presentation portion of the event on Zoom, we'll meet in our Discord voice channels to continue the conversation. SPEAKERS<ul><li>Ksenia Ermoshina, <a href="https://equalit.ie/" title="https://equalit.ie/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">eQualitie</a></li><li>Brendan "b5" O'Brien, <a href="https://www.iroh.computer/" title="https://www.iroh.computer/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Iroh</a></li></ul><ul><li>Ana Jamborcic, <a href="https://www.socialroots.io/" title="https://www.socialroots.io/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Social Roots</a></li><li>Johan Michalove, <a href="https://www.mutua.nyc/" title="https://www.mutua.nyc/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">mutua</a> and <a href="https://fireaid.info/" title="https://fireaid.info/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">FireAid</a></li></ul>Facilitated by DWeb Senior organizer, mai ishikawa sutton AGENDA00:00 - 00:06 = Welcome &amp; Announcements00:06 - 00:22 = Speaker 100:22 - 00:34 = Speaker 200:34 - 00:46 = Speaker 300:46 - 00:58 = Speaker 400:58 - 01:00 = Conclude event01:00 - 01:30 = Post-event hangout on Discord ======This meetup embodies the <a href="https://getdweb.net/principles/" title="https://getdweb.net/principles/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">DWeb Principle on Technology for Human Agency</a>, which states:We stand for technology that enables the primacy of people as beneficiaries of the technology, by upholding their security, privacy and self-determination. [...]We aim for peer-to-peer relationships, rather than hierarchical control and power imbalance.Our technologies must minimize surveillance and manipulation of people's behavior, and optimize for social benefits and empower individuals to determine how and why their data is used.

KSENIA ERMOSHINA (above)BIO: Ksenia is Lead Researcher at <a href="http://equalit.ie" title="http://equalit.ie" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">eQualit.ie</a>. She holds a PhD in science and technology studies from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris. She is an interdisciplinary researcher involved both in software projects and in academia, at the <a href="https://cis.cnrs.fr/en/the-cis/" title="https://cis.cnrs.fr/en/the-cis/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Center for Internet and Society CNRS</a> and the <a href="https://citizenlab.ca/" title="https://citizenlab.ca/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Citizen Lab</a>. She has documented in detail the political economy behind Russian surveillance and censorship technologies.&nbsp;PRESENTATION: Ksenia will discuss the geopolitics of routing, and how armed conflicts and political events impact Internet infrastructures and connectivity. She will go on to share how eQualitie’s decentralized tools promote censorship circumvention and privacy and user control by offering end-to-end encrypted data sharing.

BRENDAN "b5" O'BRIEN (above)BIO: Brendan is founder and CEO of n0, the company behind<a href="https://www.iroh.computer/" title="https://www.iroh.computer/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> iroh.computer</a>PRESENTATION: Brendan will discuss <a href="https://www.iroh.computer/" title="https://www.iroh.computer/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Iroh</a>, a peer-to-peer networking library that prioritizes reliability and composability. Iroh enables developers to establish direct, authenticated connections between devices only using their public keys, putting more control in the hands of users.

JOHANN MICHALOVE (above)BIO: Johan is a researcher, design technologist, and writer constructing philosophical probes via speculative technologies and visualizations, spanning scales from street life to the planetary. He is currently a PhD candidate at Cornell University in the Information Science department, where he is a member of the Computing on Earth Lab (led by Steve Jackson) and the Interplay Research Studio (led by Malte Jung).PRESENTATION: Johan will share his work on <a href="https://www.mutua.nyc/" title="https://www.mutua.nyc/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">mutua</a>, a project to build web infrastructure for mutual aid, as well as his experience building <a href="https://fireaid.info/" title="https://fireaid.info/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">FireAid</a>, which transformed a community spreadsheet into an accessible interface that helped 100,000+ people give and receive aid during crisis.

ANA JAMBORCIC (above)BIO: Ana is a product strategist and co-founder of <a href="https://www.socialroots.io/" title="https://www.socialroots.io/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Socialroots</a>, a network coordination platform that allows groups to communicate and share information for movement building. She guides the project’s direction and is focused on product software development, product strategy, and regenerative org design.PRESENTATION: Ana will present on how grassroots groups are using Socialroots to organize with each other to collaborate and share resources, and share how its network coordination model differs from how most social networks work today.

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DWeb Meetup — Decentralized Tech to Resist Authoritarianism

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