Collective Information Security in Large-Scale Urban Protests: the Case of Hong Kong Martin R. Albrecht, Jorge Blasco, Rikke Bjerg Jensen, and Lenka Mareková, Royal Holloway, University of London https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity21/presentation/albrecht This paper is included in the Proceedings of the 30th USENIX Security Symposium. August 11–13, 2021 978-1-939133-24-3 Open access to the Proceedings of the 30th USENIX Security Symposium is sponsored by USENIX. Collective Information Security in Large-Scale Urban Protests: the Case of Hong Kong Martin R. Albrecht Jorge Blasco Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London
[email protected] [email protected] Rikke Bjerg Jensen Lenka Mareková Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London
[email protected] [email protected] Abstract a “smart mob” facilitated by digital technology [104]. Plat- forms such as Telegram and LIHKG worked to mobilise and The Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill protests in Hong establish a sense of community among young activists [87] Kong present a rich context for exploring information secu- and created a “symbiotic network” of protesters [61]. Social rity practices among protesters due to their large-scale ur- media was used to maintain “protest potential” over time [68]. ban setting and highly digitalised nature. We conducted in- To design and build secure communication technologies depth, semi-structured interviews with 11 participants of these that meet the needs of participants in large-scale protest move- protests. Research findings reveal how protesters favoured ments, it is critical that designers and technologists under- Telegram and relied on its security for internal communica- stand protesters’ specific security concerns, notions, practices tion and organisation of on-the-ground collective action; were and perceptions.