Hands Off Protests 2025: Stories From Across the Divide

On April 5, 2025, Theodora Skeadas attended one of many Hands Off demonstrations taking place across the United States, in protest against the Trump Administration’s attack on social welfare, critical healthcare programs, diversity and trans rights, worker’s rights, and data privacy. Theodora shared her story with Electronic Frontiers Australia for Stories From Across The Divide.

EFA is sharing stories from across the divide—whether that divide is between rural and urban communities, different generations, political beliefs, or home and abroad. It’s a look at how our digital lives both differ and overlap, and what we can learn from these intersections.

Theodora is on the advisory board for All Tech is Human, a Manhattan-based non-profit that aims to grow the Responsible Tech field through knowledge-sharing and uniting key stakeholders to solve complex technology and society issues. Read EFA’s interview with Theodora.

EFA: Why did you decide to attend Hands Off 2025? 

Theodora: I turned up because I think our democracy is at stake here. I am worried about surveillance and safety issues. 

How did you get others to join you at Hands Off? Did anyone disagree with you or discourage you from turning up?

I’ve organized a group of All Tech is Human folks in the Boston area to attend events like this. No one at the protest disagreed with me, but in general, many do!

Most of my family voted for Trump, and my youngest sister (who voted for Trump) recently got married and wrote about this challenging family dynamic for the New York Times: When Your Wedding Day Is Also Election Day (or Close to It).

“We have a pretty politically diverse guest list, so my biggest concern is no matter how the election turns out, there are going to be some folks at our wedding who aren’t celebrating.”

“It’s scary to think about the effects of certain outcomes, and how people are going to react, and how the countries in the world are going to react.” – Dena Skeadas (Theodora’s sister).

What was it about Hands Off one that you think really caught the energy across political or ideological divides?

My understanding is that this was the first nationally organized protest since Trump’s inauguration in January. We have now had time to process and digest the many changes that have unfolded and are collectively turning to resistance. The changes have been so widespread, virtually no one is unscathed, and as a result, there is a broad community of Americans who feel betrayed, angry, and afraid.

I especially appreciated how the protesters each engaged with the issues that were most meaningful to them: LGBTQIA+ issues, gender issues, Veterans Affairs, healthcare, education, surveillance, abortion access, national parks, tariffs and economic woes, foreign intimidation, freedom of expression, immigration, racism, social security, etc. There are so many issues that protesters represented. What a mosaic of activism!

Hands Off Protest Signs

(Photo Credit: Theodora Skeadas)

What advice would you give people who haven’t been to a rally or protest before?

I would share that showing up at a rally involves a whole spectrum of options – it’s not a binary! You can stand in the front or in the back. You can bare your face or wear sunglasses, a face mask, and a scarf to protect your identity. You can chant or participate silently. You can bring a sign, or not. You can go alone, or with your family, kids, and friends. You can speak with reporters, or not. There are many ways to participate carefully, and then to step up engagement with time, as you build comfort levels. Also, not all protests are the same – some are big (and offer greater anonymity) and some are smaller. They have different themes and tones. They come in all shapes and sizes! So, you can pick the kind of protest or rally that best suits you.

Protests in Australia vs United States: What’s the Difference?

The global number of protests tripled each year from 2006 to 2020. The Hands Off Protest numbers proved that this momentum hasn’t slowed. Millions of people showed up. 

However, protesting has become subject to legislation, regulation, and resistance. If a Hands Off protest was to take place over Australia (or if you’re protesting in the U.S.), here’s what you should know.

Common Ground: Australia and the U.S.

• In both Australia and the United States, the right to peaceful assembly is protected under international law. This includes the right to speak out, mobilise and dissent at meetings, sit-ins, strikes, rallies and events. 

How Australia and the U.S. Differ

• Protest Rights: Australia doesn’t have a right to protest embedded in our constitution, but the government cannot introduce laws that restrict it. In the United States, peaceful protest and freedom of expression in one’s beliefs is protected by the First Amendment. In short, in the United States, protesting is a right, and in Australia, it’s a protected principle. 
• Police Powers: In Australia, police often  use ‘move on powers’. In the U.S, law enforcement varies from city to city, but the use of riot gear, tear gas, and militarised tactics is more common at large-scale protests. 
• Digital Privacy Protections: In Australia, metadata is collected and stored for two years, and in some cases, police can access this data without a warrant. This weakens the digital rights and freedoms of protesters. In the United States, the Fourth Amendment protects protesters against unreasonable searches or seizures. However, in both the U.S. and Australia, social media and digital searches are becoming more common.

Protesting shouldn’t come with the risk of being tracked, recorded, and punished…but in Australia, it does. Watch EFA’s Stepping Stones to Dystopia panel discussion to learn more.

How to Stay Safe While Protesting in Australia (and Abroad)

• Before protesting, home or away, always learn the local laws and confirm with organizers that authorities have approved the protest.
• In Australia, some protests come with serious risks. In Tasmania, there are harsh penalties for protesters who obstruct business activities. In Victoria, the same goes for blocking timber operations. Meanwhile, in the U.S., some states impose heavy penalties for blocking traffic during a protest.
• If you must take a device to protest, use an encrypted messaging app and enable Airplane Mode.
• Sharing protest photos and experiences online can amplify the protests’ impact….but doing so can come with risks for all involved. Zoom in on protest signs or flags (not the people holding them) and take photos from behind the crowd. You can’t avoid all faces, so if you do get a face in your shot, blur or colour over the face using your phone’s photo editor. There’s also a photo editing feature in Signal. Then, remove any metadata by taking screenshots of your photos and deleting the originals.

Read more about Australia’s Telecommunications and Identify and Disrupt laws here.

Will you be ready if and when we need to mobilise locally? Let’s start conversations with friends and family about what matters to them and mobilise minds before we have to mobilise in the streets.

Stories are remembered 22 times more than facts. If you have a story – whether it’s navigating rural vs. urban technology access, sacrificing personal privacy beliefs in the workpalce or seeing how digital policies affect different generations –  we’d love to hear from you! Get in touch with the Electronic Frontiers Australia team at [email protected].

We can work across differences to make a difference.

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