The year ahead: How decentered stories can counter tyranny Normalization and numbness are inevitable when those in power nudge the needle of morality each week, writes Roja, our communications director. But we have lived through this before, and the decentere...

If corrupt authorities derive power through generalizing masses of people into faceless mobs, then the antidote is to continue to give them voices, faces, lived experiences. #decenter #designfromthemargins 🔐

We're here at #mozfest and will be speaking about biometrics and the use of bodies as passwords on Sunday Nov. 9, 2:45-3:45 GMT+1. "“FaceID(ictator): Authoritarians Love Biometrics. We Don’t.” We look forward to collaborating with many of you. #designfromthemargins #dfm

@article19.bsky.social 🔐 #designfromthemargins #dfm

“DFM came from the work but it’s also a necessity. If we are not designing from this POV, all of our systems are flawed and vulnerable.” — Afsaneh Rigot #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“The companies that cared, or pretended to care, they’re going to want to capture that market share of people who are concerned with equity.” — Apryl Williams #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“Just like you can read a person’s body language, you can read a companies UX design.” — Jessical Fjeld #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

Understanding your oppressors or adversaries provides a method of reverse engineering and finding the gaps. If you are keeping these folks safe, everyone else by proxy will be kept safe.” — Afsaneh Rigot #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“DFM is about harnessing the experiences of those marginalized." — Afsaneh Rigot #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“I think of this as capitalist espionage.” — Apryl Williams #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“The companies are not monoliths. Even within the companies, there are people who are values-aligned. And those people can be key to translate the message. So if we can find them and work with them, they can be key allies.” —Jessica Fjeld #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“We did get a lot of changes and shifts. The changes were smart and wanted globally.” — Afsaneh Rigot #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“Why is it almost always on us to find ways to navigate these harms? The reason we came to app-cloaking is people were using external apps to do it themselves.” — Afsaneh Rigot #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“You didn’t sit on the laurels of the documentation. You turned around and made changes with the companies.” — Jessica Fjeld #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“Regardless of where you are, you want to fall in love, you want to hook up. Regardless of how much policing is happening, you won’t stop existing.” — Afsaneh Rigot #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

"I was shocked that I was shocked, but what a lot of people experience on the apps is radicalized and gendered. So much of dating culture is about these hetero-patriarchal norms.” — Apryl Williams #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“The co-founder of OK Cupid said ‘If you feel like your matches are ugly, it’s probably because you are ugly.’” — Apryl Williams #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

@the.de.center closed out @rightscon with a lively talk about designing dating apps from the margins. Dr. Apryl Williams and Afsaneh Rigot focused on different groups, but found many similarities. #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“There is an economy of criminalization… There’s a market behind it. There’s not a lot of great science behind it, but there is a market.” - Afsaneh Rigot #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“Instead of seeking someone’s arrest, it will seek their location.” - Alex Tinsley, Barrister, @doughtystreet.bsky.social #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“You say national security, it’s like a magic wand and is sort of a benediction over everything.” - @davidakaye.bsky.social University of California, Irvine; former U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

"[It] normalizes biometric surveillance," Veridiana Alimont on the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime @eff.org #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

“We have to hone in on - and really understand - how policing really works.” - Afsaneh Rigot, in conversation with leading voices on transnational policing and human rights, moderated by @cybercrimelab.bsky.social #rightscon25 #thedecenter #designfromthemargins 🔏 🔐

"Social media can be a lifeline for those going through genocide, but also a battlefield too.” @marwasf.bsky.social @rightscon.org #decenter #designfromthemargins #rightscon25 🔏 🔐

“Don’t Panic. Organize” — Azza Nubi #RightsCon #TheDeCenter #Rightscon25 #designfromthemargins 🔏🔐

“Life and liberty are at stake daily. There’s a moral imperative there, but if you are a heartless tech oligarch, Design From the Margins is still for you. Know where your gaps are. They can tell you where the problems are in your apps.” — Jessica Fjeld #Rightscon25 #designfromthemargins 🔏🔐

“It’s good customer service.” — Azza Nubi #RightsCon #TheDeCenter #Rightscon25 #designfromthemargins 🔏🔐

“Maybe your user is some white dude in San Francisco, but doesn’t want his niece to go through and see his Grindr messages. These changes aren’t just for the margins, it’s good for everyone.” — Afsaneh Rigot #RightsCon #TheDeCenter #Rightscon25 #designfromthemargins 🔏🔐

“The designers and builders of tech need to start to take into consideration these contexts and criminalization, not just us.” — Afsaneh Rigot #RightsCon #TheDeCenter #Rightscon25 #designfromthemargins 🔏🔐

“We have now pushed Grindr to make stealthy notification sounds.” – Azza Nubi #RightsCon #TheDeCenter #designfromthemargins 🔏🔐

“In some parts of the SWANA region, their main fear is society, their families. On the ground, people said that’s great for policing, but if my mom can still hear the notification of Grindr which is known to everybody, then I’m still in trouble.” — Azza Nubi #Rightscon25 #designfromthemargins 🔏🔐