Guardian investigation finds growing number of countries passing anti-protest laws as part of playbook of tactics to intimidate people peacefully raising the alarm
Authoritarian tactics to suppress protest typically intend to have a chain of effects like this:
protest will decrease
those who protest will protect themselves better, legally (in terms of planning and considering how to avoid charges)
those who protest will protect themselves better, physically (in terms of not being detained and overcoming the police)
in the second scenario, police will then be able to depict the protests as “violent” and call it an “insurrection”
consequently, they can press heavier charges against anyone they do manage to detain
organizing a protest becomes dangerous
participating in a protest will be perceived as dangerous
people with families and a job and elderly people will fear to participate
protest will lose effect due to few participants
that will prompt some individuals to anonymous protest and actual sabotage
nobody should want that, yet that’s where the path leads to
The solutions?
fixing the problematic laws via political process, adding a freedom-of-protest agenda to other goals
disputing the problematic laws where the legal system allows (appealing to constitutions, conventions and charters)
bypassing the laws after analysis, protesting in ways that cannot be criminalized
in rare cases where it’s worthwhile and there is exceptional mass support, just ignoring the laws, because if there’s a million people blocking streets for some reason, cops are powerless
All of that won’t be doable in every country, and in some countries, something else might be doable instead.
Authoritarian tactics to suppress protest typically intend to have a chain of effects like this:
The solutions?
All of that won’t be doable in every country, and in some countries, something else might be doable instead.