81 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
81 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Riseup: Two Decades of Movement Infrastructure"
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description: "How a small collective has provided secure communications for activists since 1999"
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summary: For over two decades, Riseup has quietly kept movements connected and secure. A small collective serving millions of users proves that community-funded infrastructure can outlast any startup.
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date: 2026-01-04
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tags: ["case-study", "activism", "security", "email", "movement infrastructure"]
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categories: ["Movement Infrastructure"]
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weight: 8
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featureImageCaption: "Photo by [John Schnobrich](https://unsplash.com/@johnschno) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/2FPjlAyMQTA) (Unsplash License)"
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---
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## What They Needed
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In [1999](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riseup), activists organizing around global justice issues faced a problem: the communication tools available to them were controlled by corporations that didn't share their values—and might hand over their data to authorities.
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Email providers could read your messages. Chat services logged everything. There was no guarantee that the tools you used to organize wouldn't be used against you.
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A small group of technologists and activists asked: what if movements had their own infrastructure?
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## What They Built
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They created **Riseup**—a technology collective providing secure communication tools for activists and organizations working toward social change.
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For over two decades, Riseup has offered:
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- **Email** with strong privacy protections
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- **Mailing lists** for organizing
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- **VPN services** for secure browsing
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- **Chat and collaboration tools**
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- **Educational resources** on digital security
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All of it free. All of it funded by donations. All of it run by a small collective committed to movement security.
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The infrastructure runs on open source software throughout—not because it's trendy, but because it's the only way to ensure the tools actually do what they claim.
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## What Happened
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Riseup now serves **millions of users** across the globe.
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Their email service alone has [hundreds of thousands of accounts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riseup). Their mailing lists host discussions for countless organizations. Their VPN protects activists in countries where surveillance is a matter of life and death.
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**What users say:**
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> "Riseup has been there for every movement I've been part of for twenty years."
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> "When we needed to communicate securely, Riseup was the answer. It still is."
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> "They've never sold us out. Not once. That's rare."
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Riseup has faced legal pressure, government requests, and attempts to compromise their systems. They've navigated all of it while maintaining their commitment to user privacy—including [responding to FBI warrants](https://riseup.net/en/about-us/press/canary-statement) by implementing encrypted storage so they could never again hand over useful data.
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## What They Learned
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**Sustainability comes from community.** Riseup runs on donations from the people who use it. No venture capital, no advertising, no corporate sponsors with strings attached. The community funds what the community needs.
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**Trust is built over decades.** Anyone can claim to protect privacy. Riseup has proven it through twenty-five years of operation, including real tests under pressure. That track record matters.
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**Small teams can serve millions.** Riseup operates with a tiny collective—far smaller than you'd expect for their scale. Focused mission, clear values, and efficient infrastructure make it possible.
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**Open source is non-negotiable.** For security-critical infrastructure, you can't trust what you can't verify. Open source isn't just a preference—it's a requirement for the kind of trust movements need.
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**Infrastructure is political.** The tools movements use shape what movements can do. Owning your infrastructure means your capabilities aren't dependent on corporations or governments that might not share your goals.
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## What This Means for You
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If you're part of a movement, an organization, or a community that needs secure communications, you have options beyond corporate providers.
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Riseup is one model. Others exist:
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- **[Disroot](https://disroot.org/)** offers similar services with a cooperative structure
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- **[Autistici/Inventati](https://www.autistici.org/)** serves activists in Europe
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- **[May First Movement Technology](https://mayfirst.coop/)** operates as a membership organization
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The broader lesson: movements can build and maintain their own infrastructure. It takes commitment, resources, and technical capacity—but it's possible, and it's been done.
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If your community has the capacity, you might consider what infrastructure you could provide for yourselves and others.
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**Learn more:** [riseup.net](https://riseup.net)
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---
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*For twenty-five years, Riseup has quietly kept movements connected and secure. That's what infrastructure looks like when it's built for people, not profit.*
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