Totem

"Digital security training for activists and journalists"

Developed by Greenhost and Free Press Unlimited (FPU), Totem is an online learning platform that offers educational courses about digital security and privacy, and related tools and tactics, to journalists, activists, and human rights defenders in an online classroom environment. The free-of-charge, self-paced, interactive courses are available in multiple languages contextualised to the language area.

The Totem platform is built using the open-source Open edX MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) software. The platform has been designed to be safe and privacy-preserving by collecting minimal data about its users and also using secure, modern encryption to prevent eavesdropping.

Greenhost and FPU collaborate with a wide range of individual trainers and organisations to create the courses, such as the International Womens Media Foundation (IWMF) and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). For example, the Totem course Know Your Trolls, on online harassment, was developed by the IWMF, digital security experts, journalists, and online education experts who connected during workshops and sprints to co-create it. The goal of this course is to help journalists identify the abuse they are receiving online and who may be behind it, as well as to offer strategies that may help journalists to be better prepared.

Other course titles include, for example: Secure Your Devices, How To Protect Your Identity Online, Keep It Private, Secure Passwords, Secure Messaging Apps, How to Bypass Internet Censorship, and Phishing Attacks. As of March 2022, approximately 6,000 learners have enrolled in these and other Totem courses.

According to Greenhost and FPU, Totem can help security trainers extend the learning experience from a few days of face-to-face, offline training into a continuous and ongoing, interactive learning experience either before or after in-person training. For example, learners can continue to learn advanced concepts and stay in touch with trainers using secure communication methods provided via the platform.