For Seattle’s cop-free protest zone, tech is both a revolutionary asset and disastrous liability – By Devin Coldewey (Techcrunch) / July 18 2020
‘They picked the wrong generation to pull this shit on.’
The police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were sparks that reignited smoldering fury against authorities across the globe. One of the most watched locations has been Seattle, where protestors barricaded off a cop-free zone, drawing outsize attention and, in the process, forming a new case study in the uses of technology both to advance a cause and to drown it in disinformation.
From the actual recording of Floyd’s killing and the protests and riots that followed, to documenting the police’s brutal response and sudden withdrawal, to the establishment of and widespread commentary on an improvised community, technology has played a crucial role throughout. But to center things properly, it is how people are using technology, not the technology itself, that has become more important.
More than ever before, information truly is power, and imbalances in who holds that power have been both reinforced and challenged in the course of events here. It’s heartening to see live streaming and instant distribution of video lead to accountability, but it’s also sickening to see deliberate campaigns to manipulate and subvert reality — and I say reality because it’s what I’ve seen with my own eyes.
Continue to article: https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/18/for-seattles-cop-free-protest-zone-tech-is-both-a-revolutionary-asset-and-disastrous-liability/
