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As a place for writing and a better common understanding, we're going to lift more voices of Black writers and bloggers. Share some of your favorites here and we'll boost them.

We also want to help you organize online in ways that can reduce harm from surveillance. If you're using our platform or software, here are some basic tips to protect yourself. (THREAD)

1.) Limit the data you give us. The less we know, the better.

If you only need to get a message out, go to https://write.as/new, publish the post, then spread the URL through other means — SMS, encrypted chat, paper and ink, etc. We will have very little information about you.

If you don't need to edit or delete the post later, do this in an incognito browser window. Since it's stored in your browser alone, your authorship history will be deleted as soon as you close the window.

If you need to create a blog / site for future posts, don't add an email address to your account — we don't need it.

If you're concerned about your internet traffic being monitored, use our Tor hidden service to publish: writeas7pm7rcdqg.onion. Then, in the URLs you share, replace this part with "write.as", so others can easily read it.

2.) Consider decentralizing. (You already know this, since you're in the fediverse )

Publishing to a central service like ours gives law enforcement a single target to go after. Instead, you can create a closed community of bloggers on your own server and domain with https://WriteFreely.org.

Configure your site with closed registrations, admin-only invites, and an entirely Private instance — ensuring that only registered users can access content there.

If you aren't technical or just need help getting set up, we're happy to help for free. Or if you're technical and want to help others, let us know — we can connect you all.