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[ARTICLE · art-15527] src=news.ycombinator.com pub= topic=ai-agents verified=true sentiment=↑ positive

Tell HN: Building an Activist Developer Collective

A developer is forming a collective of activist programmers to build and ship tech tools for social change, citing past projects like Resistbot as proof of concept. The group, which already includes several developers, is seeking contributors with a focus on anti-authoritarian, pro-civil liberties projects, starting with a real-time boycott app that intercepts checkout flows to suggest alternatives. The collective invites developers with activist projects or those wanting to contribute time or expertise to join via email.

read1 min publishedMay 27, 2026

Resistbot (and the more controversial ICEBlock), among others showed that a simple app with the right idea and distribution can move thousands of people to act, and I don't think we've come close to exhausting what's possible there, especially considering how AI / agents have empowered small dev teams.

I'm putting together a group of activist developers focused on brainstorming, hacking, shipping, and promoting activist tech end-to-end, and seeing what gains traction. We already have a few very talented devs. To be effective, we need a point of view. We lean anti-authoritarian, pro civil liberties, and more socially progressive than not. Practical idealists. If that’s not your thing, no sweat.

As a jumping-off point, I've pitched a WIP real-time boycott app (intercepts checkout flows, analyzes any product/company dynamically, suggests alternatives), but your ideas are as valuable than your time.

If you have an activist project that needs sharp technical people, come pitch it! If you just want to see where you can contribute any amount of time or expertise, we'd love to have you. Email me for an invite: books.elevens.8b@icloud.com

Comments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48297158](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48297158)

Points: 1

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