Digital security also requires resources and ongoing support. As the Internet Society noted, the organisations on the front lines fighting for a safer internet need funding to sustain their work. Without that support, many protection initiatives are forced to rely on isolated efforts and on capacities that are not always available.

However, the responsibility does not lie with organisations alone. Platforms must offer effective mechanisms for reporting and addressing abuses, without giving up point-to-point encryption protection. States, for their part, have the obligation to protect people’s rights in the digital sphere. This entails enhancing privacy and security guarantees, not demanding backdoors or other ways of bypassing encryption, as well as preventing cybersecurity policies from becoming an excuse to expand surveillance or to persecute those working for a safer internet.

The Ola Bini case shows that the latter risk is not hypothetical. In early October, Ecuador deported the digital security expert after revoking his visa because the government claimed he posed a threat to national security, while a habeas corpus action was still pending.