34
Artifacts The New Old Tools of Protest
AftertheSudanesemilitarytoppled
dictatorOmarHassanal-Bashirin
April,it turneditsattentiontoa new
opponent:protestersdemandinga
civiliangovernment.Ina bidtocutoff
activists’abilitytocommunicatewith
oneanotherandtheoutsideworld,
leadersorderedthecountry’sinternet
shutdown.This,theythought,would
alsoshutdownthemovement.
Instead,organizerscommunicated
viahandwrittennotes,couriers,and
face-to-facemeetings—alltime-honoredtacticsfromthepre-internet
age.ByearlyJuly,internetaccesswas
restored,andonAug.4 thetwosides
agreedona transitiontocivilianrule.
Sincethe 2011 ArabSpring,it’s
beendifficulttotalkaboutcivilunrest
withoutconsideringthecatalyzing
roleofsocialmediaandtheweb.But
in thepoliticalprotestsdominating
globalheadlinesthissummer—from
northernAfricatoRussia,fromLatin
AmericatoAsia—organizersareusing
physicaltoolsasmuchasdigitalonesTELEGRAM
Theappofchoicefor
politicalresistance
doesn’toffertheend-
to-endencryption
ofWhatsAppor
Signal.ButTelegram
doesprovide
usefulfeaturesfor
organizers,including
groupchatsthatcan
accommodateas
manyas200,000
users,anda ready-
madepollfunction
togaugecollective
opinion.Telegramwas
HongKong’sseventh-
mostdownloaded
appin July,with
110,000newusers.UNIFORMS
Frenchdrivers
arerequiredto
keepyellowsafety
vestsin theircars
tomakethemselves
visiblein theevent
ofa roadside
breakdown.When
commutersroseup
toprotesta gasoline
taxproposedby
PresidentEmmanuel
Macron,thegilets
jauneswerealready
athand.A uniform
signalssolidarity
andmakesit
harderforpolice
todistinguishany
individualactivist.
It alsocreates
aninstantly
recognizablevisual
emblem—veryuseful
formediacoverage.BUCKETS
Teargas—banned
in war,alongwith
otherchemicaland
biologicalweapons—
is legalasa crowd-
controlmeasurein
peacetime.Butas
policehavebecome
morecomfortable
usingit, protesters
havegottenbetter
atprotecting
themselves.
Demonstratorsin
Caracasoftencarry
plasticbucketsto
covera teargas
canisterandcontain
thegas.Someone
wearingglovescan
thenrunover,scoop
upthecanister,
andthroworkick
it backatthe
government’stroops.