Steven Feldstein

Steven Feldstein, a senior fellow at Carnegie focusing on technology and human rights, delves into the dark world of authoritarian tech. He discusses the alarming rise of surveillance tools, algorithmic censorship, and AI-driven policing globally. Feldstein shares insights on how protesters in Nepal creatively leveraged encryption to organize against government censorship, and warns that AI's predictive policing poses serious risks. He also highlights the role of cryptocurrencies as a means of resistance, underlining the intricate relationship between technology and modern repression.

Be sure to visit the Irregular Warfare Initiative website to see all of the new articles, podcast episodes, and other content the IWI team is producing! What happens when authoritarianism expands into online environments? A form of digital repression takes shape. But what does that actually look like? What are the specific ways that authoritarian regimes use new technologies to control their populations? And how are resistance groups adapting to overcome digital repression? This episode addresses those questions as hosts Matt Moellering and Adam Darnley-Stuart are joined by Steven Feldstein, author of the book The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance, and John Tullius, who retired from the CIA in 2019 and now teaches classes on intelligence at the Naval Postgraduate School. Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Steve Feldstein, political scientist and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment focused on digital repression. He unpacks why regimes cut internet access, the different forms of shutdowns, and how they are used beyond protests. The conversation covers wartime blackouts, tools like mesh apps and Starlink, and how repression shows up in democracies.