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How do I safely make a political website

14 points by tertiary ↗ HN
With what happened to George Floyd I feel like I can't sit around and do nothing.

I've started a project where I've selected data driven policy options which have been shown to help improve policing in the US. I've evaluated my local police department about which policies they have implemented and which they have not.

Then, I have asked every local politician running in an upcoming primary race to tell me whether or not they support implementing the policy options locally.

My goal is that if I get enough good responses, I'd like to put together a website which showcases each policy, whether or not we already implement it, and then each of the responses that I receive from local politicians. That way voters who care about the issue can decide who they want to support.

My concern is the potential for retaliation or legal action. I'm just some guy, not a member of the press and so I don't have a large organization backing me. I'm not planning on posting my name on the website, but I'm still a bit nervous about it. Is there anything I can do to keep myself safe?

Are there any organizations out there that help sponsor content like this so I'm not as easy of a target for people to attack?

9 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 26.6 ms ] thread
coderintherye
Some tips:

  * Use Cloudflare to front your site, this will help deal with attacks. It is worth paying for as well (but can be free).

  * Use the "protect my privacy" options when registering a domain. Use a new account at the domain registrar that is only for that.

  * Use a host that will protect you. NearlyFreeSpeech.net is good in this regard.

  * If you incorporate as a non-profit or work with one you can apply to get the protection of Project Shield from Google
  
  * Work with others. CopWatch comes to mind.

  * Explore similar things to get ideas. USAFacts (by Steve Ballmer) comes to mind as a good comparable.
bitxbitxbitcoin
Are you more worried about the content being targeted for takedown by the government or DDOS by people that don't like it or your identity being tied to the website either through domain registration records or records at your hosting service?

It might be worth checking out registering and using a Handshake name to use as there wouldn't be a centralized entity associating and storing your IRL name with your internet name.

tertiary
My concern is more on the legal side and being targeted in real life. My hope is to provide a fair representation of everything, but I live in an area that isn't known for their friendliness towards people that are concerned about the police. I'm worried about the potential for doxxing and crazy people coming after me. Also, the potential for targeting by the police. I hope that this wouldn't happen, but I'm sure we've all seen news stories about it.

The other worry is if one of the politicians I'm getting responses from doesn't like how I portray them (or even just that their honest responses are online) and seeks legal action. I can't really anonymize myself from them because I have to ask them questions.

rowawey
Host it in Iceland or Greenland. Do not depend on cloud services with servers in US-friendly countries.

Anonymize hosting and DNS whois details.

Setup good monitoring/DDoS protection.

Maybe research and talk with other police reform advocates before creating content. Michael A. Wood Jr. on community-led policing seems like a good first stop.

DoreenMichele
Be extremely neutral in how you present information. (You can hire writers to help with this if you don't know how to do it.)

Explicitly spell out the goal of the site in very neutral terms, a la: "A website profiling data-driven policy options which have been shown to help improve policing in the US." And then just lay out which positions politicians have.

Avoid trying to push an agenda. Present it all as neutrally as possible, including the fact that there is more to both a politician and a voter than these specific issues.

Make it crystal clear that you have one and only one goal: To inform people about two things:

1. Which policies are proven to help with this specific issue (and the studies or data that support this conclusion).

2. The position of various politicians on this specific issue.

Do not stoop to mudslinging. Do not try to sway people to vote the way you think is "correct."

Keep it completely informational and be very humble (and respectful) and go out of your way to avoid pushing a specific agenda. Your website should do one and only one thing: Inform people on this topic.

It won't solve all your problems, but it will help mitigate them.

kleer001
Sounds like you're trying to push forward evidence based policy making. Good for you, I love it!

Have you tried to find other well established entities that are already doing this or have done this before? Maybe the ACLU or something like them.

Have you talked to a lawyer or two? More specifically a layer with roots in the movements in the 60s?

Basically I'm asking if you've looked for or found a mentor in this space.

I'm sure you'll find great technical suggestions here, but I want you to succeed in your mission and that'll require more than technical tools.

But maybe you already got those.

auganov
You're not going to be too effective if you don't put your name on it. People who have a problem with you will always find a reason to hate on you no matter what you do. Don't worry about crazies. I'm not saying bad things won't happen. But you just cannot do much to stop them.

If you really don't want to be publicly political then just try to convince somebody else to do it. Just email a bunch of like-minded people your ideas.

What's the point of hiding your identity so much while simultaneously wanting to be THE person behind it?