This session explores how authoritarianism operates through surveillance, digital control, and the growing concentration of power in large technology companies. It examines how states and tech actors converge in practices of monitoring, criminalization, and data extraction, reshaping the conditions under which movements, communities, and civil society organize and resist.

The session will open with the experience of CAJAR (Colombia), reflecting on decades of surveillance, persecution, and criminalization of movement lawyers and human rights defenders, as well as the strategies developed to sustain their work over time. From this foundation, the discussion expands to the broader landscape of digital surveillance and technological power.

A digital security expert will examine how surveillance technologies are used by both states and private actors, and what this means for dissent, civic space, and democratic life. The session will also highlight practical strategies for protection, adaptation, and resistance.

A transnational dialogue will bring in experiences from countries such as India, Egypt, and Uganda, highlighting how activists and organizations are navigating repression, surveillance, and restrictions on civic space.

By connecting these experiences, the session fosters collective reflection on personal, organizational, and digital security, while strengthening the exchange of concrete protection strategies across contexts.

Learning objectives
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Identify patterns of repression targeting movements across contexts

• Analyze how surveillance and concentrated tech power shape civic space

• Learn from strategies used to resist and navigate repression

• Strengthen approaches to personal, organizational, and digital security